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The art instinct : beauty, pleasure and human evolution
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The art instinct : beauty, pleasure and human evolution

by Denis Dutton

This study examines the evolutionary origins of human artistic expression and aesthetic pleasure. It proposes that the universal drive to create art is a biological adaptation, analysed using evolutionary psychology to explain cross-cultural aesthetic values.

Accession 2857 ISBN 9781596914018 Publisher —
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TAGS
Curated Derived
Animals Art Beauty Communication Culture Evolution History Life Sciences Linguistics Literature Music Philosophy Psychology Science Sex Social Sciences
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True
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never
orientation
unknown
Details

Physical

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Hard Back
dimensions
196.00 (H) × 130.00 (W) × 18.00 (T) mm
spine_text
none captured

Metadata

Book form
LOCATION HISTORY
G:W1:2 5 Current vertical
1 week, 1 day ago
G:W1:2 5 vertical
3 weeks ago
G:W1:2 5 vertical
3 weeks, 2 days ago
G:W1:2 5 vertical
3 weeks, 5 days ago
G:W1:3 3 vertical
3 weeks, 6 days ago
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Last synced 2026-05-21 02:38 (2 weeks, 6 days ago)

Identity

name→ title
The art instinct : beauty, pleasure and human evolution
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2857
vernon_slug
the-art-instinct-beauty-pleasure-and-human-evolution-denis-dutton

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On Shelf, Storage
location_name
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isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)
9781596914018

Descriptive

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2009
object_type
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brief_description
Dutton argues our love of beauty is inborn, and many aesthetic tastes are shared across remote cultures―just one example is the widespread preference for landscapes with water and distant trees, like the savannas where we evolved. --blurb

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)
Denis Dutton
tags→ tags
Arts, Science, Life sciences, Literature, Philology, Philosophy, Social sciences, Civilisation, Sociology, Language and languages, Communication, Art -- Philosophy, Fiction, Evolution (Biology), Biology, Genetics, Sex (Biology), Natural selection, Life, Aesthetics, Language and languages -- Etymology, Neolithic period, Stone age, Adaptation (Biology), Mind and body, Philosophical anthropology, Language and languages in art, Music -- Philosophy and aesthetics, Mind and body in art
subject_people
Piero Manzoni (b.1933, d.1963), Immanuel Kant (German, b.1724, d.1804), Steven Pinker (b.1954)
subject_objects
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