Abstract
This work proposes a coevolutionary theory of aesthetics that encompasses both biotic and human arts. Anthropocentric perspectives in aesthetics prevent the recognition of the ontological complexity of the aesthetics of nature, and the aesthetic agency of many non-human organisms. The process of evaluative coevolution is shared by all biotic advertisements. I propose that art consists of a form of communication that coevolves with its own evaluation. Art and art history are population phenomena. I expand Arthur Danto’s Artworld concept to any aesthetic population of producers and evaluators. Current concepts of art cannot exclusively circumscribe the human arts from many forms of non-human biotic art. Without assuming an arbitrarily anthropocentric perspective, any concept of art will need to engage with biodiversity, and either recognize many instances of biotic advertisements as art, or exclude some instances of human art. Coevolutionary aesthetic theory provides a heuristic account of aesthetic change in both human and biotic artworlds, including the coevolutionary origin of aesthetic properties and aesthetic value within artworlds. Restructuring aesthetics, art criticism, and art history without human beings at the organizing centers of these disciplines stimulate new progress in our understanding of art, and the unique human contributions to aesthetics and aesthetic diversity.
Highlights
The ontological diversity of art, the diversity of aesthetic properties, and the complexity of aesthetic change present enormous intellectual challenges to the philosophy of aesthetics, art criticism, and art history
The resurgent, contemporary version of sexual selection theory is largely organized around the Neo– Wallacean assumption that the evolution of mating preferences will be dictated by strong natural selection for honest indicators of male quality or mating efficiency, and does not follow Darwin’s own arbitrary, aesthetic view (Cronin 1991; Prum 2010, 2012)
I propose that the disciplines of aesthetics, art criticism, and art history should encompass both humans and non-human organisms, and that they should span evolutionary biology, behavioral biology, psychology, and the humanities
Summary
The ontological diversity of art, the diversity of aesthetic properties, and the complexity of aesthetic change present enormous intellectual challenges to the philosophy of aesthetics, art criticism, and art history. Following Darwin’s view, I have argued that the coevolution of display traits and mating preferences constitutes a distinct mode of aesthetic evolution in which the subjective sensory and cognitive experiences of mate choice can have evolutionary consequences independent of natural selection (Prum 2012). I propose that a coevolutionary aesthetic theory provides a heuristic, non-reductive account of the nature of art, the origin of aesthetic properties, and the process of aesthetic change.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have