Beauty is in the Culturally Conditioned Eyes of the Beholder??
Denis Dutton: A Darwinian Theory of Beauty
Key Points:
- Beauty is an adaptive effect which we extend and intensify in the creation and enjoyment of the works of art and entertainment.
- Beauty is nature´s way of acting at a distance; it´s evolutions way of arousing or sustaining interest to encourage us to make adaptive decisions for survival and reproduction.
- Aesthetic pleasure has a magnetic pull that goes beyond cultural and personal perceptions.
- Human beings have a permanent innate taste for virtuoso displays in the arts; we find beauty in something done well.
- Beauty is a gift handed down from the intelligent skills and rich emotional lives of our ancient ancestors.
