378
Views
2
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Urban parks as spaces to pursue virtuous character, friendship, and contemplation: An Aristotelian perspective

, ORCID Icon &
 

Abstract

Given the complexity of meaning of urban parks in our lives, philosophical inquiry may provide a way to help understand what good urban parks are and what role urban parks can play in people's lives. Our desire to understand underlying meanings of today's urban parks led us to explore Aristotle's writings The Nicomachean Ethics. Hence, we discuss connections between Aristotle's ideas associated with virtuous character, friendship, and contemplation that we conclude are relevant to providing a normative view of urban parks. Such a normative interpretation suggests that urban parks have the potential to create spaces that (a) provide social contexts to encourage virtuous behaviors and moral goodness, (b) help create a safe and stable community through connections between different people or groups, and (c) help enhance people’s possibilities to achieve contemplation during leisure, leading to experiences associated with the good life.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.