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The artful species : aesthetics, art, and evolution / by Stephen Davies.

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Oxford Scholarship Online: Philosophy Available online

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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Davies, Stephen, 1950-
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Aesthetics.
Human evolution.
Art--Psychological aspects.
Art.
Art--Philosophy.
Cultural Evolution--history.
Medical Subjects:
Cultural Evolution--history.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (ix, 301 pages) : illustrations
Other Title:
Aesthetics, art, and evolution
Place of Publication:
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2012.
Language Note:
English
Summary:
Stephen Davies explores the idea that art, and our aesthetic sensibilities more generally, should be understood as an element in human evolution. He asks: Do animals have aesthetics? Do our aesthetic preferences have prehistoric roots? Is art universal? What is the biological role of aesthetic and artistic behaviour?
Contents:
The aesthetic
The nature of art
The theory of evolution
How might the aesthetic, art, and evolution be related?
Humans' aesthetic appreciation of nonhuman animals
Landscape aesthetics
The aesthetics of human beauty
General theories of art as an adaptation and the origins of art
Art as a spandrel
Art as a technology
Arts as adaptations.
Notes:
Description based upon print version of record.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [232]-279) and index (p. [285]-301).
Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on Nov. 13, 2012).
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
ISBN:
0-19-101585-7
0-19-870963-3
1-283-91916-8
0-19-163311-9
OCLC:
823319359

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