I don't quite get his logical point how he links Darwin's theory with how we define beauty.....T_T
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty
What is the experience of beauty? Many people say that "Beauty is in the culturally conditioned eye if the beholder". But is this true? Denis argues people all around the world consider certain scenery as beautiful, no matter what different cultures they are from. Some might argue that it works only for natural beauty, not for artificial ones. However, people find beauty in something done well. Acheulian hand axes made 1.4 million years ago, which Denis regards as the earliest art work, not as butchery, looks beautiful even for today's eyes.
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This is a great summary, Kia! About Darwin, his idea is that just as the human race evolved certain attributes (e.g. eyes, ears, our capacity for language, etc.), so it also evolved a sense of beauty--a sense that is passed on genetically.
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