The Art Instinct
Denis Dutton has made a significant contribution to the field of art appreciation and interpretation, which is accessible to the novice, but will provide important and provocative discussion material for the expert. By weaving together philosophy and aesthetics, cognitive anthropology and human development, ideas about cultural relativism and standards of beauty, he leads the reader on a fascinating journey through questions about what makes human seek meaning, influence their surroundings, and define the world through the creative impulse.
The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution
By Denis Dutton
Published by Bloomsbury Press
Sells for $25.00
"The Art Instinct" combines art and evolutionary science in a provocative new work. Sure to provoke discussion in scientific circles and uproar in the art world, this book offers radical new insights into both the nature of art and the workings of the human mind.
*Publisher Comments*
In a groundbreaking new book that does for art what Stephen Pinker's "The Language Instinct" did for linguistics, Denis Dutton overturns a century of art theory and criticism and revolutionizes our understanding of the arts.
"The Art Instinct" combines two fascinating and contentious disciplines--art and evolutionary science--in a provocative new work that will change forever the way we think about the arts, from painting to literature to movies to pottery. Human tastes in the arts, Dutton argues, are evolutionary traits, shaped by Darwinian selection. They are not, as the past century of art criticism and academic theory would have it, just "socially constructed."
Our love of beauty is inborn, and many aesthetic tastes are shared across remote cultures--just one example is the widespread preference for landscapes with water and distant trees, like the savannas where we evolved. Using forceful logic and hard evidence, Dutton shows that we must premise art criticism on an understanding of evolution, not on abstract "theory." He restores the place of beauty, pleasure, and skill as artistic values.
Sure to provoke discussion in scientific circles and uproar in the art world, "The Art Instinct "offers radical new insights into both the nature of art and the workings of the human mind.
The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution
By Denis Dutton
Published by Bloomsbury Press
Sells for $25.00
"The Art Instinct" combines art and evolutionary science in a provocative new work. Sure to provoke discussion in scientific circles and uproar in the art world, this book offers radical new insights into both the nature of art and the workings of the human mind.
*Publisher Comments*
In a groundbreaking new book that does for art what Stephen Pinker's "The Language Instinct" did for linguistics, Denis Dutton overturns a century of art theory and criticism and revolutionizes our understanding of the arts.
"The Art Instinct" combines two fascinating and contentious disciplines--art and evolutionary science--in a provocative new work that will change forever the way we think about the arts, from painting to literature to movies to pottery. Human tastes in the arts, Dutton argues, are evolutionary traits, shaped by Darwinian selection. They are not, as the past century of art criticism and academic theory would have it, just "socially constructed."
Our love of beauty is inborn, and many aesthetic tastes are shared across remote cultures--just one example is the widespread preference for landscapes with water and distant trees, like the savannas where we evolved. Using forceful logic and hard evidence, Dutton shows that we must premise art criticism on an understanding of evolution, not on abstract "theory." He restores the place of beauty, pleasure, and skill as artistic values.
Sure to provoke discussion in scientific circles and uproar in the art world, "The Art Instinct "offers radical new insights into both the nature of art and the workings of the human mind.
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