Aesthetic Evolution in Man

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Publisher : Literature and Knowledge Publishing
ISBN 13 : 2366595670
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (665 download)

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Book Synopsis Aesthetic Evolution in Man by : Charles Grant Allen

Download or read book Aesthetic Evolution in Man written by Charles Grant Allen and published by Literature and Knowledge Publishing. This book was released on 2018-04-02 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If we wish to hit upon the primitive germ of æsthetic sensibility in man, we cannot begin better than by looking at its foreshadowing in the lower animals. There are two modes of aesthetic feeling which seem to exist among vertebrates and insects at least: the first is the sense of visual beauty in form, color, or brilliancy; the second is the sense of auditory beauty in musical or rhythmical sound... Step by step, in our own individual minds, and in the history of our race, the æsthetic faculty has slowly widened with every widening of our interests and affections. Attaching itself at first merely to the human face and figure, it has gone on to embrace the works of man's primitive art, and then the higher products of his decorative and imitative skill. Next, seizing on the likeness between human handicraft and the works of nature, envisaged as the productions of an anthropomorphic creator, it has proceeded to the admiration for the lace-work tracery of a fern or a club-moss, the sculptured surface of an ammonite, the embossed and studded covering of a sea-urchin, the delicate fluting of a tiny shell. Lastly, it has spread itself over a wider field, with the vast expansion of human interests in the last two centuries, and has learned to love all the rocks, and hills, and seas, and clouds, of earth and heaven, for their own intrinsic loveliness. So it has progressed in unbroken order from the simple admiration of human beauty, for the sake of a deeply seated organic instinct, to the admiration of abstract beauty for its own sake alone.

The Evolution of Beauty

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Publisher : Anchor
ISBN 13 : 0385537220
Total Pages : 448 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (855 download)

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Book Synopsis The Evolution of Beauty by : Richard O. Prum

Download or read book The Evolution of Beauty written by Richard O. Prum and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2017-05-09 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, SMITHSONIAN, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL A major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences—what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"—create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world. In the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwin's theory of natural selection explains every branch on the tree of life: which species thrive, which wither away to extinction, and what features each evolves. But can adaptation by natural selection really account for everything we see in nature? Yale University ornithologist Richard Prum—reviving Darwin's own views—thinks not. Deep in tropical jungles around the world are birds with a dizzying array of appearances and mating displays: Club-winged Manakins who sing with their wings, Great Argus Pheasants who dazzle prospective mates with a four-foot-wide cone of feathers covered in golden 3D spheres, Red-capped Manakins who moonwalk. In thirty years of fieldwork, Prum has seen numerous display traits that seem disconnected from, if not outright contrary to, selection for individual survival. To explain this, he dusts off Darwin's long-neglected theory of sexual selection in which the act of choosing a mate for purely aesthetic reasons—for the mere pleasure of it—is an independent engine of evolutionary change. Mate choice can drive ornamental traits from the constraints of adaptive evolution, allowing them to grow ever more elaborate. It also sets the stakes for sexual conflict, in which the sexual autonomy of the female evolves in response to male sexual control. Most crucially, this framework provides important insights into the evolution of human sexuality, particularly the ways in which female preferences have changed male bodies, and even maleness itself, through evolutionary time. The Evolution of Beauty presents a unique scientific vision for how nature's splendor contributes to a more complete understanding of evolution and of ourselves.

Evolutionary Aesthetics

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Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 3662071428
Total Pages : 376 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolutionary Aesthetics by : Eckart Voland

Download or read book Evolutionary Aesthetics written by Eckart Voland and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evolutionary aesthetics is the attempt to understand the aesthetic judgement of human beings and their spontaneous distinction between "beauty" and "ugliness" as a biologically adapted ability to make important decisions in life. The hypothesis is - both in the area of "natural beauty" and in sexuality, with regard to landscape preferences, but also in the area of "artificial beauty" (i.e. in art and design) - that beauty opens up fitness opportunities, while ugliness holds fitness risks. In this book, this adaptive view of aesthetics is developed theoretically, presented on the basis of numerous examples, and its consequences for evolutionary anthropology are illuminated.

The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic

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Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 1498503071
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (985 download)

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Book Synopsis The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic by : Katya Mandoki

Download or read book The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic written by Katya Mandoki and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2015-07-15 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TheIndispensable Excess of the Aesthetic: Evolution of Sensibility in Nature traces the evolution of sensibility from the most primal indications detectable at the level of cellular receptors and plant tendril sensitivity, animal creativity and play to cultural ramifications. Taking on Darwin’s insistence against Wallace that animals do have a sense of beauty, and on recent evolutionary observations, this book compellingly argues that sensibility is a biological faculty that emerges together with life. It argues that there is appreciation and discernment of quality, order, and meaning by organisms in various species determined by their morphological adaptations and environmental conditions. Drawing upon Baumgarten’s foundational definition of aesthetics as scientia cognitionis sensitivae, this book proposes a non-anthropocentric approach to aesthetics as well as the use of empirical evidence to sustain its claims updating aesthetic understanding with contemporary biosemiotic and evolutionary theory. The text leads us along three distinct but entwined areas: from the world of matter to that of living matter to the realm of cultivated living matter for exploring how and why sensibility could have evolved. It points out that aspects traditionally used to demarcate and characterize human aesthetics—such as appreciation of symmetry, proportion and color, as well as pleasure, valuation and empathy, sensory seduction, creativity, and skills for representation, even fiction—are present not only in humans but among a variety of plant and animal species.

The Biology of Wonder

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Publisher : New Society Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1550925946
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (59 download)

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Book Synopsis The Biology of Wonder by : Andreas Weber

Download or read book The Biology of Wonder written by Andreas Weber and published by New Society Publishers. This book was released on 2016-02-01 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new way of understanding our place in the web of life from a scholar praised for his “graceful prose” (Publishers Weekly). The disconnection between humans and nature is perhaps one of the most fundamental problems faced by our species today. This schism is arguably the root cause of most of the environmental catastrophes unraveling around us. Until we come to terms with the depths of our alienation, we will continue to fail to understand that what happens to nature also happens to us. In The Biology of Wonder Andreas Weber proposes a new approach to the biological sciences that puts the human back in nature. He argues that feelings and emotions, far from being superfluous to the study of organisms, are the very foundation of life. From this basic premise flows the development of a "poetic ecology" which intimately connects our species to everything that surrounds us—showing that subjectivity and imagination are prerequisites of biological existence. Written by a leader in the emerging fields of biopoetics and biosemiotics, The Biology of Wonder demonstrates that there is no separation between us and the world we inhabit, and in so doing it validates the essence of our deep experience. By reconciling science with meaning, expression, and emotion, this landmark work brings us to a crucial understanding of our place in the rich and diverse framework of life—a revolution for biology as groundbreaking as the theory of relativity for physics. “Grounded in science, yet eloquently narrated, this is a groundbreaking book. Weber’s visionary work provides new insight into human/nature interconnectedness and the dire consequences we face by remaining disconnected.” —Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods

Aesthetics after Darwin

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Publisher : Academic Studies PRess
ISBN 13 : 1644692597
Total Pages : 227 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (446 download)

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Book Synopsis Aesthetics after Darwin by : Winfried Menninghaus

Download or read book Aesthetics after Darwin written by Winfried Menninghaus and published by Academic Studies PRess. This book was released on 2019-12-10 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Darwin famously proposed that sexual competition and courtship is (or at least was) the driving force of “art” production not only in animals, but also in humans. The present book is the first to reveal that Darwin’s hypothesis, rather than amounting to a full-blown antidote to the humanist tradition, is actually strongly informed both by classical rhetoric and by English and German philosophical aesthetics, thereby Darwin’s theory far richer and more interesting for the understanding of poetry and song. The book also discusses how the three most discussed hypothetical functions of the human arts––competition for attention and (loving) acceptance, social cooperation, and self-enhancement––are not mutually exclusive, but can well be conceived of as different aspects of the same processes of producing and responding to the arts. Finally, reviewing the current state of archeological findings, the book advocates a new hypothesis on the multiple origins of the human arts, posing that they arose as new variants of human behavior, when three ancient and largely independent adaptions––sensory and sexual selection-driven biases regarding visual and auditory beauty, play behavior, and technology––joined forces with, and were transformed by, the human capacities for symbolic cognition and language.

The Art Instinct

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0199539421
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (995 download)

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Book Synopsis The Art Instinct by : Denis Dutton

Download or read book The Art Instinct written by Denis Dutton and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2009 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dinka have a connoisseur's appreciation of the patterns and colours of the markings on their cattle. The Japanese tea ceremony is regarded as a performance art. Some cultures produce carving but no drawing; others specialize in poetry. Yet despite the rich variety of artistic expression to be found across many cultures, we all share a deep sense of aesthetic pleasure. The need to create art of some form is found in every human society.In The Art Instinct, Denis Dutton explores the idea that this need has an evolutionary basis: how the feelings that we all share when we see a wonderful landscape or a beautiful sunset evolved as a useful adaptation in our hunter-gather ancestors, and have been passed on to us today, manifest in our artistic natures. Why do people indulge in displaying their artistic skills? How can we understand artistic genius? Why do we value art, and what is it for? These questions have long been asked by scholars in the humanities and in literature, but this is the first book to consider the biological basis of this deep human need.This sparking and intelligent book looks at these deep and fundamental questions, and combines the science of evolutionary psychology with aesthetics, to shed new light on longstanding questions about the nature of art.

The Art Instinct

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1596914017
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (969 download)

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Book Synopsis The Art Instinct by : Denis Dutton

Download or read book The Art Instinct written by Denis Dutton and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Challenges popular conceptions in art theory and criticism to argue that human tastes in the arts are evolutionary traits shaped by Darwinian selection as opposed to social construction, in a volume that explains the role of evolution in aesthetic preferences while calling for a practice of art criticism from an evolutionary standpoint. 40,000 first printing.

Homo Aestheticus

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Publisher : University of Washington Press
ISBN 13 : 0295980532
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (959 download)

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Book Synopsis Homo Aestheticus by : Ellen Dissanayake

Download or read book Homo Aestheticus written by Ellen Dissanayake and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: �Dissanayake argues that art was central to human evolutionary adaptation and that the aesthetic faculty is a basic psychological component of every human being. In her view, art is intimately linked to the origins of religious practices and to ceremonies of birth, death, transition, and transcendence. Drawing on her years in Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Papua New Guinea, she gives examples of painting, song, dance, and drama as behaviors that enable participants to grasp and reinforce what is important to their cognitive world.��Publishers Weekly�Homo Aestheticus offers a wealth of original and critical thinking. It will inform and irritate specialist, student, and lay reader alike.��American AnthropologistA thoughtful, elegant, and provocative analysis of aesthetic behavior in the development of our species�one that acknowledges its roots in the work of prior thinkers while opening new vistas for those yet to come. If you�re reading just one book on art anthropology this year, make it hers.��Anthropology and Humanism

Human Evolution Through Aesthetic Selection

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 14 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis Human Evolution Through Aesthetic Selection by : John Goulstone

Download or read book Human Evolution Through Aesthetic Selection written by John Goulstone and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Seductions of Darwin

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Publisher : Penn State Press
ISBN 13 : 0271079002
Total Pages : 201 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (71 download)

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Book Synopsis The Seductions of Darwin by : Matthew Rampley

Download or read book The Seductions of Darwin written by Matthew Rampley and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2017-01-12 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The surge of evolutionary and neurological analyses of art and its effects raises questions of how art, culture, and the biological sciences influence one another, and what we gain in applying scientific methods to the interpretation of artwork. In this insightful book, Matthew Rampley addresses these questions by exploring key areas where Darwinism, neuroscience, and art history intersect. Taking a scientific approach to understanding art has led to novel and provocative ideas about its origins, the basis of aesthetic experience, and the nature of research into art and the humanities. Rampley’s inquiry examines models of artistic development, the theories and development of aesthetic response, and ideas about brain processes underlying creative work. He considers the validity of the arguments put forward by advocates of evolutionary and neuroscientific analysis, as well as its value as a way of understanding art and culture. With the goal of bridging the divide between science and culture, Rampley advocates for wider recognition of the human motivations that drive inquiry of all types, and he argues that our engagement with art can never be encapsulated in a single notion of scientific knowledge. Engaging and compelling, The Seductions of Darwin is a rewarding look at the identity and development of art history and its complicated ties to the world of scientific thought.

The Role of Aesthetic Rejection and Selection in Human Evolution

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 38 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis The Role of Aesthetic Rejection and Selection in Human Evolution by : John Goulstone

Download or read book The Role of Aesthetic Rejection and Selection in Human Evolution written by John Goulstone and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Popular Science

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 144 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Popular Science by :

Download or read book Popular Science written by and published by . This book was released on 1881-01 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Popular Science gives our readers the information and tools to improve their technology and their world. The core belief that Popular Science and our readers share: The future is going to be better, and science and technology are the driving forces that will help make it better.

The Aesthetic Brain

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199811806
Total Pages : 244 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (998 download)

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Book Synopsis The Aesthetic Brain by : Anjan Chatterjee

Download or read book The Aesthetic Brain written by Anjan Chatterjee and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Aesthetic Brain takes the reader on a wide-ranging journey addressing fundamental questions about aesthetics and art. Using neuroscience and evolutionary psychology, Chatterjee shows how beauty, pleasure, and art are grounded biologically, and offers explanations for why beauty, pleasure, and art exist at all.

Survival of the Beautiful

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Publisher : A&C Black
ISBN 13 : 1408830566
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (88 download)

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Book Synopsis Survival of the Beautiful by : David Rothenberg

Download or read book Survival of the Beautiful written by David Rothenberg and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The peacock's tail makes me sick!' said Charles Darwin. That's because the theory of evolution as adaptation can't explain why nature is so beautiful. It took the concept of sexual selection for Darwin to explain that, a process that has more to do with aesthetic taste than adaptive fitness. Survival of the Beautiful is a revolutionary new examination of the interplay of beauty, art, and culture in evolution. Taking inspiration from Darwin's observation that animals have a natural aesthetic sense, philosopher and musician David Rothenberg probes why animals, humans included, have an innate appreciation for beauty - and why nature is, indeed, beautiful.

Strange Tools

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Publisher : Macmillan + ORM
ISBN 13 : 1429945257
Total Pages : 291 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

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Book Synopsis Strange Tools by : Alva Noë

Download or read book Strange Tools written by Alva Noë and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2015-09-22 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A philosopher makes the case for thinking of works of art as tools for investigating ourselves In his new book, Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature, the philosopher and cognitive scientist Alva Noë raises a number of profound questions: What is art? Why do we value art as we do? What does art reveal about our nature? Drawing on philosophy, art history, and cognitive science, and making provocative use of examples from all three of these fields, Noë offers new answers to such questions. He also shows why recent efforts to frame questions about art in terms of neuroscience and evolutionary biology alone have been and will continue to be unsuccessful.

Beauty and the Beast

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 118 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Beauty and the Beast by : Stewart A. McDowall

Download or read book Beauty and the Beast written by Stewart A. McDowall and published by . This book was released on 1920 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses aesthetic evolution, arguing that the concept of beauty is fundamentally important in the constitution of reality.