Dutton teaches philosophy at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and is the editor of Arts & Letters Daily, a three-column compendium of culture news from all over the web. (His own homepage is another storehouse of tidbits from his wide-ranging explorations in philosophy and culture.) He’s on the advisory board of Cybereditions, a publisher specializing in ebooks and print-on-demand editions of nonfiction works.
Why do humans take pleasure in making art? In his 2009 book The Art Instinct, philosopher Denis Dutton suggests that art is a need built into our systems, a complex and subtle evolutionary adaptation comparable to our facility for language. We humans evolved to love art because it helps us survive; for example, a well-expressed appreciation of art can -- even in modern times -- help us to find a mate. It’s a bold argument to make, bolstered by examples from the breadth of art history that Dutton keeps at his fingertips.
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Published on:
November 24, 2010
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"DENIS DUTTON" METALOCUS.
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<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/denis-dutton>
ISSN 1139-6415
