The aesthetic ideology of Juliana v. United States and its impact on environmentally engaged citizenship

Abstract

Following Wittgenstein’s call to imagine law as a way of life (1958), we can envisage environmental law and environmentalism as a way of living beautifully. Employing George Santayana’s aesthetic theory (1896, 1905, 1910), this article explores environmentally engaged citizenship as more than a mere ideological manifestation of subjectivity. A multifaceted relationship between individuals and their environment, it manifests itself through their ideology, political subjectivity, but also through aesthetic subjectivity. Using Juliana v. USA as a case study, this article examines civic engagement taking into consideration its deeply ideological and aesthetic nature.