Frugality. An aesthetic category for a sustainable art of living

Abstract

Climate change has necessitated the exploration of new interpretive models and aesthetic categories to understand our relationship with the environment. In response to this, the concept of frugality emerges as a potential paradigm for a sustainable art of living. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive exploration of frugality as an aesthetic category through the lens of the history of ideas, its connection to everyday aesthetics, and its implications for an art of living. By adopting a frugal lifestyle, individuals can establish a harmonious and respectful relationship with the environment, promoting a more sustainable future. This existential model has been proposed by several thinkers in the past, but in contemporary times has not found many followers. Aesthetics could offer a contribution in this regard and confer onto this way of life those symbolic values capable of making it more attractive and feasible.