Abstract
This article considers the uncommon situation surrounding the acceptance of Darwinism in nineteenth-century Bohemia, when the diffusion and interpretation of Darwin’s teachings were first undertaken, above all by two professors of aesthetics at Prague – Josef Durdik and Otakar Hostinský. Although they somewhat simplified the theory of natural selection, they understood Darwin’s theory to be the arrival of a new paradigm in contrast to contemporary biologists working in the Bohemian Lands. This article presents and compares both aestheticians’ interpretations of Darwinism, mainly their stance on the theory of natural selection, the possibilities of applying this theory to aesthetics and art, as well as their relationship to Darwin’s interpretation of aesthetic phenomena in nature.
Highlights
Whereas in most countries of central Europe it was primarily biologists who contributed to the switch from earlier biological paradigms to Darwinism, it is somewhat surprising that in Bohemia aestheticians were the first to contribute to the acceptance of Darwinism.[1]
Evolutionary thought in the Bohemian Lands already existed prior to the introduction of Darwinism as a part of German idealistic natural philosophy (Naturphilosophie), and we find French influences, for instance those of Lamarck and Geoffroy
This essay has attempted to analyse in greater detail the way in which two professors of aesthetics at Prague, Durdík and Hostinský, among the first proponents of Darwinism in the Bohemian Lands in the nineteenth century, interpreted Darwinism
Summary
This article considers the uncommon situation surrounding the acceptance of Darwinism in nineteenth-century Bohemia, when the diffusion and interpretation of Darwin’s teachings were first undertaken, above all by two professors of aesthetics at Prague – Josef Durdík and Otakar Hostinský. They somewhat simplified the theory of natural selection, they understood Darwin’s theory to be the arrival of a new paradigm in contrast to contemporary biologists working in the Bohemian Lands. This article presents and compares both aestheticians’interpretations of Darwinism, mainly their stance on the theory of natural selection, the possibilities of applying this theory to aesthetics and art, as well as their relationship to Darwin’s interpretation of aesthetic phenomena in nature
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