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The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution Hardcover – December 23, 2008

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Denis Dutton (Author)
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Denis Dutton (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 56 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Press; 1 edition (December 23, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1596914017
  • ISBN-13: 978-1596914018
  • Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.1 x 9.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,059,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsWhat Evolutionary Explanlation Can There Be For Our Love of Art?
By Kevin Currie-Knight VINE VOICE on January 10, 2009
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
In "The Art Instinct," Denis Dutton asks an interesting question: is there a way to explain our human prediliction for art in evolutionary terms? How can this drive for art be seen as a trait instilled by the process of evolution? Dutton's answers, unfortunately, turn out to be rather pedestrian, in that he (a) borrows and does not add to the conclusions of others; and (b) focuses on "easy cases" of representative art as opposed ot cases that would be more problematic for his theory.

First, Dutton outlays his very pluralistic theory of what constitutes art. He makes very good arguments against the reigning culturally relativistic views (art is whatever we define it as). In its place, he offers twelve criteria that art must have in order to be art (none of which are necessary or sufficient on their own. They are:

(1) gives direct pleasure; (2) exhibits skill and virtuosity; (3) novelty and creativity; (4) style; (5) ability to evoke criticism; (6) representation; (7) special focus; (8) expressive individuality; (9) emotional saturation; (10) intellectually challenging; follows artistic traditions; (12) imaginitive experience.

Dutton writes that while none of these critiria are necessary or sufficient, anything that is to be classified as art must exhibit a greater or lesser degree of at least several of these traits. He certainly shows that even the most different cultural definitions of art all have at least these criteria in common, and more importantly, that, regardless of culture, we all have a human drive to admire things with these characteristics.

From here, Dutton's argument focuses on how to see art in evolutionary terms.Read more ›
10 Comments 177 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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4.0 out of 5 starsBasic Instinc
By Retired Reader on January 2, 2009
Format: Hardcover Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
Aesthetics certainly appears to be one of the more difficult branches of philosophy. How for example does one tackle such abstracts such as `beauty' or deal with concepts like perceptions of reality? Well in this quite interesting book Denis Dutton neatly sidesteps these issues. This book is based entirely on his premise that the capability to appreciate and create art in all of its forms is as integral to the human condition as language or social relationships (hence the title "The Art Instinct"). His premise is of course self evident, but only after it is articulated. Since Dutton is a professor of philosophy he does not take `self evident' as a supporting argument. Rather he devotes this book to marshaling carefully constructed arguments to prove his premise and, more interestingly, to refute the arguments of philosophers who have maintained that art is not an innate quality of man.

To this end Dutton even goes after Immanuel Kant, arguably the greatest idealist philosopher since Plato. He directs his argument against Kant to what is one of the weakest points in Kant's philosophical system, his understanding of aesthetic values. Dutton points out among other things that Kant may have had a literal blind spot for art.

A number of Dutton's arguments supporting his premise are not particularly strong, but all are interesting. He provides a fascinating perspective on aesthetic analysis and the question of what indeed constitutes art. To this reader's great relief he does so using straight forward, clear prose. He avoids the often obscure jargon and syntactical mazes so often found in modern philosophical writing. This quality along makes the book worth buying.
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5.0 out of 5 starsExplaining Art Through Evolution, and Vice Versa
By Rob Hardy HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER on January 3, 2009
Format: Hardcover
Every culture we know of, every tribe, current or historic, tells stories. They all make music. They might not all do watercolors, but they all do some sort of representational art. Why is this? After all, storytelling, music, and painting are far less effective in putting food on the table than, say, hunting or planting. In examining a cultural universal, like making art, it makes sense to seek an answer from evolution. No one scientifically doubts that we have our bodies and physiology due to evolution (although religious doubters continue to pipe up). Over the past three decades, we have seen evolutionary explanations for human sexuality, language, even religion. Can Darwin's principles be applied to our diligence in making art, and our of love of art? Denis Dutton thinks so, and in _The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution_ (Bloomsbury Press), he has put forward a cogent and entertaining evolutionary explanation of our artistic impulses. Dutton, who teaches the philosophy of art, and also founded and edits the popular and useful website _Arts & Letters Daily_, has good grasps on art and evolution, and his explanations for artistic behavior and appreciation help us understand both disciplines.

If evolution explains art-making through all cultures, you'd expect some general agreement on, say, what paintings are beautiful. Statistics have been done, and it does seem that there is a consensus between cultures on what is the prettiest landscape. In the Pleistocene era, our ancestors were nomads. They would have liked the blue of water or of distant vegetation; it would have meant sustenance from good hunting grounds. Music is perhaps harder to explain.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Interesting and enjoyable

Published 14 months ago by Black Adder
3.0 out of 5 starsI felt that a good portion of the book was an argument for the ...

I comment not as one knowledgeable in the evolutionary sciences or the philosophy or art, but as an artist curious of the opinions of those who attempt to explain what art is and... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Stan
5.0 out of 5 starsinsightful and fun to

Informative, insightful and fun to read

Published 17 months ago by murat turan
5.0 out of 5 starsI came to this book after reading pinkers on how ...

I came to this book after reading pinkers on how the mind works and mating mind from geoffery Miller the author borrows ideas heavily from both of them but what I found interesting... Read more

Published 18 months ago by Abhinav
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book for teaching the humanities

I can not say enough about t his book. Great book for teaching the humanities.

Published 19 months ago by Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 starsThree Stars

A good read but kind of a one trick pony

Published 20 months ago by Ron Schira
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

If you are into evolutionary psychology, this book is fascinating.

Published 23 months ago by L Brennan
5.0 out of 5 starsIt was practically intact, in good condition. It has arrived in time....

I would recommend this product for everyone, interested in art phylosophy! This book is about beauty, pleasure and human evolution.

Published on August 4, 2013 by Valentin Kashtelyan
5.0 out of 5 starsSomething believed

Since the limited reviews I have made over the years the author fit into my preconceived notions nicely. Read more

Published on May 31, 2013 by Mary C. Smith
5.0 out of 5 starsAcademic... Revised Review

As an artist working almost exclusively in landscapes, with an avid appreciation for the influence of natural selection on human perception, (e.g. Read more

Published on May 20, 2013 by Rider

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