Placeholder text

Go to cart

Survival of the Beautiful

By David Rothenberg

Survival of the Beautiful Philosophy

Survival of the Beautiful

0 - Default Title
Description
"The peacock's tail," said Charles Darwin, "makes me sick." That's because the theory of evolution as adaptation can't explain why nature is so beautiful. It took the concept of sexual selection for Darwin to explain that, a process that has more to do with aesthetics than the practical. Survival of the Beautiful is a revolutionary new examination of the interplay of beauty, art, and culture in evolution. Taking inspiration from Darwin's observation that animals have a natural aesthetic sense, philosopher and musician David Rothenberg probes why animals, humans included, have innate appreciation for beauty-and why nature is, indeed, beautiful. Sexual selection may explain why animals desire, but it says very little about what they desire. Why will a bowerbird literally murder another bird to decorate its bower with the victim's blue feathers? Why do butterfly wings boast such brilliantly varied patterns? The beauty of nature is not arbitrary, even if random mutation has played a role in evolution. What can we learn from the amazing range of animal aesthetic behavior-about animals, and about ourselves? Readers who enjoyed the bestsellers The Art Instinct and The Mind's Eye will find Survival of the Beautiful an equally stimulating and profound exploration of art, science, and the creative impulse.
Product details
Edition:
illustrated
Number of Pages:
311
Release Date:
2011-10-25
Publication Date:
2011-11-01
Publisher:
Bloomsbury USA
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
1608192164
ISBN13:
9781608192168
Weight:
644 g
Height:
167 cm
Width:
246 cm
Thickness:
28 cm
Buy on Amazon
Currently sold out