Evolutionary Aesthetics [Hardcover]

Evolutionary aesthetics is the attempt to understand the aesthetic judgement of human beings and their spontaneous distinction between beauty and ugliness as a biologically adapted ability to make important decisions in life. The hypothesis is - both in the area of natural beauty and in sexuality, with regard to landscape preferences, but also in the area of artificial beauty (i.e. in art and design) - that beauty opens up fitness opportunities, while ugliness holds fitness risks. In this book, this adaptive view of aesthetics is developed theoretically, presented on the basis of numerous examples, and its consequences for evolutionary anthropology are illuminated.

Evolutionary Aesthetics is the attempt to understand the aesthetic judgement of human beings and their spontaneous distinction between beauty and ugliness as a biologically adapted ability to make important decisions in life. The hypothesis is - both in the area of natural beauty and in sexuality, with regard to landscape preferences, but also in the area of artificial beauty (i.e. in art and design) - that beauty opens up fitness opportunities, while ugliness holds fitness risks. In this book, this adaptive view of aesthetics is developed theoretically, presented on the basis of numerous examples, and its consequences for evolutionary anthropology are illuminated.I The Problem.- Darwinian Aesthetics Informs Traditional Aesthetics.- II From Is to Beauty  From Perception to Cognition.- The Beauties and the Beautiful  Some Considerations from the Perspective of Neuronal Aesthetics.- The Role of Evolved Perceptual Biases in Art and Design.- From Sign and Schema to Iconic Representation. Evolutionary Aesthetics of Pictorial Art.- III The Fitness of Beauty  Aesthetics and Adaptation.- Beauty and Sex Appeal: Sexual Selection of Aesthetic Preferences.- Beyond Nature Versus Culture: A Multiple Fitness Analysis of Variations in Grooming.- Aesthetic ló?