Martin Seel's treatise is a comprehensive exploration of the possibility of aesthetic perception of nature today; its aim is that of a secular apology for the beauty of nature. This endeavor, as becomes quickly evident, cannot be limited to the theme of nature alone. An aesthetics of nature that speaks only of nature and not also of art and other areas of the aesthetic would have missed its subject. The developed aesthetics of nature proves to be part of a general ethics of the good life. In this thematic interweaving lies the overarching thesis of the book. The beauty of nature, as Seel can demonstrate, is only understood when it vividly embodies an exemplary possibility of human life.