The Artful Species: Aesthetics, Art, and Evolution PDF
Preview The Artful Species: Aesthetics, Art, and Evolution
The Artful Species This page intentionally left blank The Artful Species Aesthetics, Art, and Evolution Stephen Davies 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversitypressintheUKandincertainothercountries #StephenDavies2012 Themoralrightsoftheauthorshavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublished2012 Impression:1 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dataavailable ISBN 978–0–19–965854–1 PrintedinGreatBritainby MPGBooksGroup,BodminandKing’sLynn LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork. Dedicated to Peter Goldie and Denis Dutton Acknowledgments Ihavebenefitedfromtheadviceandassistanceofmanypeople,includingBrianBoyd, John Brown, Joseph Carroll, Noe¨l Carroll, Rose Cook, Mike Corballis, Tobyn DeMarco, William Flesch, Peter Goldie, Paul Griffiths, Justine Kingsbury, Jonathan McKeown-Green, Jeffrey Masson, Derek Matravers, Ani Patel, Bill Seeley, James Shelley, Bob Stecker, and Daniel Wilson. Special thanks are due to Gillian Brock, HelenDeCruz,JohanDeSmedt,KathyHiggins,SherriIrvin,andtomyeditor,Peter Momtchiloff,andmycopy-editor,BrendaStones. PartsofChapter4werefirstpublishedin“LaVitaaRitmodiPassacaglia,”Rivistadi Estetica 35 (2) (2007):129–46, translator Luca Angelone, also published as “Life is a Passacaglia,” Philosophy and Literature 33 (2009):315–28. Parts of Chapter8 were first published in “Ellen Dissanayake’s Evolutionary Aesthetic,” Biology and Philosophy 20 (2005):291–304.AndpartsofChapter10firstappearedin“Music,Fire,andEvolution,” Politics and Culture 1 http://www.politicsandculture.org/2010/04/29/music-fire-and- evolution/ Contents Part I. Key Concepts 1. TheAesthetic 9 2. TheNatureofArt 25 3. TheTheoryofEvolution 35 4. HowMighttheAesthetic,Art,andEvolutionbeRelated? 45 Part II. The Aesthetic 5. Humans’AestheticAppreciationofNonhumanAnimals 65 6. LandscapeAesthetics 86 7. TheAestheticsofHumanBeauty 102 Part III. The Arts 8. GeneralTheoriesofArtasanAdaptationandtheOriginsofArt 121 9. ArtasaSpandrel 136 10. ArtasaTechnology 148 11. ArtsasAdaptations 158 12. Conclusion 183 Endnotes 189 Glossary 230 References 232 WebResources 280 Index 285 This page intentionally left blank PART I Key Concepts Introduction Fourhundredthousandyearsagoamemberofanancestralhumanoidspeciesfashioned a hand axe. Like other such axes, this one was produced by shaping rock through a skillfulprocessinwhichshardswerestruckfromastonecore.Thefinaltoolwashand- sizedandsharp-edged.Itwasdistinguishedbyitsexceptionallyfinequalityandbythe darkredquartziteofwhichitwascomposed,whichgaveitthecolorofveinousblood. Probablyitwasnotusedforcutting.Wecannotbesurehowitgotthere,butitwasthe only artifact found in a pit in which the maker’s group entombed their dead. It may have been the very first grave offering. So impressed were the archaeologists who unearthedthisdramaticallycoloredaxethattheycalledit“Excalibur”afterthesword ofArthurianlegend. Excaliburwasnotalone.Beginningaboutthistimethereisevidenceofaremarkable developmentintheattitudetoaxeproduction.Insomeplacestherewerefarmoreaxes (also known as “bifaces”) than were needed on purely functional grounds. In about 1–2percentofcases,greatandunnecessarycarewastakentomakebilaterallysymmet- ricalaxes.Someofthefinestandmostsymmetricalaxesshownosignofhavingbeen used.Someaxeswereoutsizedorotherwiseunusualinafashionthatmadethemnot readilyusable.Someaxesmadeafeatureoffossilsormineralveinsinthestone.Allthis suggeststhattheaxemakerswereconcernedwithsomethingmorethanbasicutility. ThephilosopherGregoryCurriedescribesonesuchaxeas a piece of worked stone, shaped as an elongated tear drop, roughly symmetrical in two dimensions, with a twist to the symmetry which has retained an embedded fossil. In size and shapeitwouldnothavebeenausefulbutcheryimplement,andisworkedontoadegreeoutof proportiontoanylikelyuse.Whileitmaybetoomuchtocallitan“earlyworkofart,”itisat leastsuggestiveofanaestheticsensibility. By “aesthetic sensibility,” Currie means a taste for the creation or appreciation of beauty, as I will explain further in Chapter1. Positive aesthetic responses typically involveanemotionallyheightenedfocusonanitem’sattractivenessorawesomeness.
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