Journal of Consciousness Studies Vol 6 Art and the Brain [Paperback]

First of a three-volume series of the Journal of Consciousness Studies , which asks if it is possible to take a natural science approach to art and uncover general laws of aesthetic experience, or is that taking reductionism too far?

The six principal papers are by a range of able and even distinguished exponents of their various specialisms

Ramachandran and Hirstein [in the lead article] present a penetrating neurological theory comprising eight universal laws of aesthetic experience... Although these two neurologists are far from the first to respond to the challenge of explaining the human artistic experience, they bring a deeper viewpoint to bear, combining principles from perceptual psychology, evolutionary biology, neurological deficits and functional brain anatomy. Their treatment is unusual not so much in their development of perceptual rules for art, but in their use of these diverse principles to address the evolutionary meaning of beauty that may be the essence of art... Ramachandran and Hirstein state that their goal is to foster debate on the principles underlying the artistic experience. This they undoubtedly do, as exemplified by the Commentaries.

First of a three-volume series of the Journal of Consciousness Studies , which asks if it is possible to take a natural science approach to art and uncover general laws of aesthetic experience, or is that taking reductionism too far?