The Problem with Aesthetics
In her article “Why Do Species Mater?,” Russow attempts to find a way to show why it is
so important to keep endangered animals alive. She has many problems with the ethics
currently present (to include the land ethic, utilitarian, rights, intrinsic value, etc). She
believes that rather than looking at these ethics, we must change the way we view these
animals. Rather than looking at them from a species point of view, we must look at them
from an individual perspective. She believes that by doing so, we can change the idea that
we can allow certain subspecies to die off, as long as the species as a whole remains alive.
She also states that we must value animals for their aesthetics. By aesthetics however, she
does not just mean a species beauty, but the thing that makes that animal special to include,
rarity, and the adaption to a niche. She believes that the aesthetic experience of seeing a
rare endangered animal will prevent humans from wiping them out.
Herein I have the biggest problem with which I see rise up in four forms. My first problem
is that, honestly the idea of aesthetics is flimsy in that it is purely subjective. Take into
consideration the numerous amounts of arts and books lost to rampaging humans. It could
have been aesthetically pleasing to some but not for others. In addition, just because we
decide to say that we should save animals because we should find the individual,
endangered animal, aesthetically pleasing, doesn’t mean everyone will. So then, for those