Evolution of the arts

2021 ◽  
pp. 45-72
Author(s):  
Steven Brown
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Cultural Products ◽  
Fields Of Study ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Human Creativity ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Species Specific

This chapter examines both the biological and cultural evolution of the arts. Biological evolution of the arts deals with how humans evolved the species-specific capacities to create and appreciate artworks, while cultural evolution is about how artworks themselves, as cultural products, undergo changes in persistence over historical time and geographic location. The study of biological evolution includes both phylogenetic (or historical) and adaptationist (or Darwinian) approaches. The study of cultural evolution of the arts reveals the importance of a ‘creativity/aesthetics cycle’ in which the products of human creativity get appraised for their level of appeal by the aesthetic system, allowing them to either be transmitted to future generations or die out. This unification of creativity and aesthetics has far-reaching implications for both fields of study.

Zygmunt Krasiński wobec sztuk pięknych / Zygmunt Krasiński and the Fine Arts

2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Płaszczewska
Keyword(s):  
Fine Arts ◽  
Literary Tradition ◽  
Individual Sensitivity ◽  
What Works ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
A Current ◽  
Aesthetic Preferences

Summary This is an attempt at examining Zygmunt Krasiński’s opinions and preferences with regard to the fine arts, a theme many critics believed to be missing from his writings. While putting things right, this article looks at the issues involved in his artistic choices, for example, what works or artists attracted his attention, in general, and to the point of him actually drawing on them in his own work or provoking him to some response (critical, approving, emotional, etc.). Furthermore, the article tries to explore the reasons and circumstances which may account for Krasiński’s interest in a given painting, print, or sculpture. It may have been the work’s theme as in the case of his ekphrasis of Ary Scheffer’s Dante and Virgil Encountering the Shades of Francesca and Paolo Di Rimini, where literary tradition provided the impulse, or the mode of its execution, or the personal ties with its author, or, finally, some other factors, like a current vogue or simply Krasiński’s individual sensitivity. The ultimate aim of all these inquiries is to outline Krasiński’s relationship with the arts (beaux arts) in the context of the aesthetic preferences of the epoch.

Lamarck’s Two Legacies: A 21st-Century Perspective on Use-Disuse and the Inheritance of Acquired Characters

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Jablonka ◽  
Ehud Lamm
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Physiological Model ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Biological Plasticity ◽  
Inheritance Of Acquired Characters ◽  
The Law ◽  
Acquired Characters

<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Abstract </strong></span>| Lamarck has left many legacies for future generations of biologists<span class="s2"><strong>. </strong></span>His best known legacy was an explicit suggestion, developed in the <em>Philosophie zoologique </em>(PZ), that the effects of use and disuse (acquired characters) can be inherited and can drive species transformation.This suggestion was formulated as two laws, which we refer to as the law of biological plasticity and the law of phenotypic continuity<span class="s2"><strong>. </strong></span>We put these laws in their historical context and distinguish between Lamarck’s key insights and later neo-Lamarckian interpretations of his ideas<span class="s2"><strong>.</strong></span>We argue that Lamarck’s emphasis on the role played by the organization of living beings and his physiological model of reproduction are directly relevant to 21st-century concerns, and illustrate this by discussing intergenerational genomic continuity and cultural evolution.</p>

The human brain: Chairman’s introduction

1981 ◽  
Vol 292 (1057) ◽  
pp. 151-153
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Internal Models ◽  
Adaptive Behaviour ◽  
Myelin Sheaths ◽  
The Brain

Much has been said at the symposium about the pre-eminent role of the brain in the continuing emergence of man. Tobias has spoken of its explosive enlargement during the last 1 Ma, and how much of its enlargement in individual ontogeny is postnatal. We are born before our brains are fully grown and ‘wired up ’. During our long adolescence we build up internal models of the outside world and of the relations of parts of our bodies to it and to one another. Neurons that are present at birth spread their dendrites and project axons which acquire their myelin sheaths, and establish innumerable contacts with other neurons, over the years. New connections are formed; genetically endowed ones are stamped in or blanked off. People born without arms may grow up to use their toes in skills that are normally manual. Tobias, Darlington and others have stressed the enormous survival value of adaptive behaviour and the ‘positive feedback’ relation between biological and cultural evolution. The latter, the unique product of the unprecedentedly rapid biological evolution of big brains, advances on a time scale unknown to biological evolution.

The Unification of the Arts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Brown
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Visual Art ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Aesthetic Responses ◽  
Music And Language ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Dance Movements ◽  
Evolution Of Music

The Unification of the Arts presents the first integrated cognitive account of the arts that attempts to unite all of the arts into a single framework, covering visual art, theatre, literature, dance, and music, with supporting discussions about creativity and aesthetics that span all of the arts. The book’s comparative approach identifies both what is unique to each artform and what artforms share with one another. An understanding of shared mechanisms sheds light on how the arts are able to combine with one another to form syntheses, such as choreographing dance movements to music, or setting lyrics to music to create a song. While most psychological analyses of the arts focus on perceptual mechanisms alone—most commonly aesthetic responses—the book offers a holistic sensorimotor account of the arts that examines the full gamut of processes from creation to perception for each artform. This allows for a broad discussion of the evolution of the arts, including the origins of rhythm, the co-evolution of music and language, the evolution of drawing, and cultural evolution of the arts. Finally, the book aims to unify a number of topics that have not been adequately related to one another in previous discussions, including theatre and literature, music and language, creativity and aesthetics, dancing and acting, and visual art and music. The Unification of the Arts provides a bold new approach to the integration of the arts, one that covers cognition, evolution, and neuroscience.

scholarly journals ADDRESSING CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY IN TRAVEL WRITING: READING AND REFLECTING ON WILLIAM DALRYMPLE’S ‘NINE LIVES’.

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Nidhi Tiwari
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Economic ◽  
Travel Writing ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Cultural Sustainability ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Is Development ◽  
Brundtland Report

Ever since the focus on cultural diversity and identities acquired prominence globally, there has been a shift in limiting sustainability only to environmental, economic and social dimensions. Culture is more than just the manifestation of culture, for example, ‘the arts’ and should be viewed instead as the ‘whole social order’ (Williams 1983). This naturally leads to an interrogation of the construct of sustainable development. The definition which emerged in the Brundtland Report (WCED 1987) is the widely accepted one and it states, “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

scholarly journals Aesthetics and Creativity. Identity Configurations

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Durac ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
Human Attitude ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Nature And Society ◽  
The Way

Reflecting on human attitude towards reality, together with deciphering the emotional code that accompanies it, has configured - in time – the aesthetic universe, open to human reflection, creation, and evaluation. Aesthetics appears through the way in which consciousness reacts and capitalises upon things in nature and society, or which belong to human subjectivity, including on artistic work, which have an effect on sensitiveness due to their harmony, balance and grandeur. As a fundamental attribute of the human being, creativity is the engine of cultural evolution, meaning the degree of novelty that man brings in his ideas, actions, and creations. Aesthetical values, together with the other types of values, contribute to what society represents and to what it can become, hence motivating human action and creation. Their role is to create a state of mind that encourages the cohesion, cooperation, and mutual understanding of the society. Integrating a chronological succession of the evolution of the concepts that objectify its structure, its aesthetics and creativity, this article stresses the synergetic nature of the two dimensions of human personality, paving the way to beauty, as a form of enchantment of the human spirit.

scholarly journals Aesthesis decolonial y los tiempos relacionales Entrevista a Rolando Vázquez

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Rolando Vazquez ◽  
Miriam Barrera Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Art ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Senses ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Arte Contemporáneo ◽  
The Way

RESUMEN Hay que pensar la decolonialidad en relación a las artes. En esta entrevista exploramos cómo las artes decoloniales se diferencian de la estética moderna/colonial. La decolonización de la estética conlleva la liberación de a la aiesthesis, es decir de las formas de relacionarnos con el mundo y de hacer mundo a través de los sentidos. La aiesthesis decolonial se distingue de los principios del arte contemporáneo y en particular de su sujeción a la temporalidad moderna, abriéndonos hacia las temporalidades relacionales. Los artistas decoloniales ejercen una temporalidad distinta que conlleva no sólo una crítica radical al orden de la representación y de la visualidad modernas sino que también nos dan la posibilidad de entender a la decolonialidad cómo un movimiento cargado de esperanza, cargado de la posibilidad de nombrar y vivenciar los mundos interculturales que han sido negados. PALABRAS CLAVE Decolonialidad, tiempo relacional, esperanza, cuerpo, interculturalidad KAI SUTI AESTHESIS ÑAGPAMANDA KAUSAKUNA TUKUIKUNAWA TAPUCHI SUG RUNATA ROLANDO VÁSQUEZ SUTITA SUGLLAPI Kaipi kawachinakumi iska ruraikuna ñugpamanda chasallata kunaurramanda. Kai suti aiesthesis, kawachiku imasami pai kawa kawachimanda ukusinama paipa iuaikunawa. Aiesthesis kame tukuikunamanda sugrigcha.Lsx artistxs kawachinakumi ñugpamanda kausikuna munankuna kawachingapa charrami kausanakunchi parlanakumi ñugpata imasami mana lisinsiaskakuna allí ruraikuna tukuikunamanda. IMA SUTI RIMAI SIMI: Ñugpamanda, parlaikuna sullai, nukanchi kikin, tukuikuna. DECOLONIAL AESTHESIS AND THE RELATIONAL TIMES. INTERVIEW WITH ROLANDO VÁSQUEZ ABSTRACT We have to hink the decoloniality in relation with the arts. This interview explores the difference between the modern/colonial aesthetic and the decolonial arts. The aesthetic decolonization leads to the release of the aesthesis, ergo it relates in every way to the connection and creation of a world through the senses. The decolonial aesthesis is particularly different from the contemporary art principles in the way it grasps the modern temporality consenting the creation of a path toward relational temporalities. The decolonial artists exercise a different temporality that results in not only a radical criticism to the modern representation and visuality but it makes possible to understand the decolonialization as a hopeful movement, full of possibilities for naming and experiencing neglected intercultural worlds. KEYWORDS Decolonialization, relational time, hope, body, interculturality ESTEHÉSIE DÉCOLONIALE ET LE TEMPS RELATIONNELS. ENTRETIEN À ROLANDO VASQUEZ RÉSUMÉ Il faut penser la décolonisation en relation aux arts. Dans cet entretien on explore comment les arts décoloniaux sont différents de l’esthétique moderne-coloniale. La décolonisation de l’esthétique entraîne la libération de l’estehésie, c’est-à-dire, la libération des façons de nous mettre en relation avec le monde et d’en créer un nouveau à travers les sens. L’estehésie décoloniale se différence des principes de l’art contemporain, principalement pour son fixation à la modernité en nous emmenant vers les temporalités relationnelles. Les artistes décoloniaux exercent avec une temporalité qui n’implique pas juste une critique radicale à l’ordre de la représentation et de la vision moderne, mais aussi de la possibilité de comprendre la décolonisation comme un mouvement plein d’espoir, chargé d’une possibilité de nommer et de mettre en relief les interculturalités qu’ont été niées. MOTS-CLEFS Décolonisation, temps relationnels, espoir, corps, interculturalité ESTESIA DESCOLONIAL E O TEMPO RELACIONAL ENTREVISTA A ROLANDO VAZQUEZ RESUMO Temos que pensar a descolonização em relação as artes. Nesta entrevista é explorado como as artes descoloniais são diferentes da estética moderna-colonial. A descolonização da estética conduz a emancipação da estesia, isto é, das formas de relacionamento com o mundo e da fôrma de fazer mundo a partir dos sentidos. A estesia descolonial distinguese dos princípios da arte contemporânea particularmente pela fixação o tempo moderno, abrindo-nos para a temporalidades relacionales. Os artistas descoloniais exercem uma temporalidade diferente que implica não só uma crítica radical à ordem da representação e à visão moderna, mas também à possibilidade de entender a descolonização como um movimento cheio de esperança, carregado da possibilidade de designar e viver os mundos interculturais que foram negados. PALAVRAS CHAVES Descolonização, esperança, tempo relacional, fôrma, intercultural.   Recibido el 20 de enero de 2015 Aceptado el 26 de febrero de 2015

scholarly journals How culture and biology interact to shape language and the language faculty

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenny Smith
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Evolutionary Models ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Repeated Cycle ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Precise Relationship

Recent work suggests that linguistic structure develops through cultural evolution, as a consequence of the repeated cycle of learning and use by which languages persist. This work has important implications for our understanding of the evolution of the cognitive basis for language: in particular, human language and the cognitive capacities underpinning it are likely to have been shaped by co-evolutionary processes, where the cultural evolution of linguistic systems is shaped by and in turn shapes the biological evolution of the capacities underpinning language learning. I review several models of this co-evolutionary process, which suggest that the precise relationship between evolved biases in individuals and the structure of linguistic systems depends on the extent to which cultural evolution masks or unmasks individual-level cognitive biases from selection. I finish by discussing how these co-evolutionary models might be extended to cases where the biases involved in learning are themselves shaped by experience, as is the case for language.

scholarly journals Ivan Aleksandăr (1331-1371)

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Alberti
Keyword(s):  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Military Campaigns ◽  
First Time

The long reign of Ivan Aleksand&#259;r (1331-1371), the penultimate emperor of Bulgaria prior to the Turkish conquest, was marked by a series of successful military campaigns against Serbia and Byzantium and above all by an intensive cultural production, largely fostered and funded by the sovereign himself. The central decades of the fourteenth century were of crucial importance for the later cultural evolution of Bulgaria and the whole of Orthodox Slovenia, despite which to date ample and exhaustive studies on the figure of Ivan Aleksand&#259;r are lacking. There is, in effect, a considerable amount of information at disposal, although it is scattered over the literary sources, the colophons of the manuscripts, the epigraphic documentation and also, obviously, the official deeds promulgated by the Emperor. Through the analysis of this varied documentation, this book attempts to reconstruct the figure of the sovereign, the context in which he lived and worked, his greatness and his mistakes and his parallel activities as a strategist and an illuminated patron of the arts. For the first time, the Italian reader can find collected and translated all the manuscript sources relating to the Bulgarian sovereign. The book is completed by an appendix with the original texts of the Slavonic-ecclesiastical tradition.

scholarly journals CULTIVATING SPIRITUALITY A NECESSITY FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS

2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (2(Ч.1)) ◽  
pp. 270-283
Author(s):  
Д. Пол Шафер
Keyword(s):  
Future Generations ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Systemic Racism ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The World ◽  
Other Substances ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Disastrous Effect ◽  
To Come

We are going through a very challenging period in human history. Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic had a disastrous effect on people and countries in all parts of the world, but also many other dangerous and life threatening problems have to be addressed and overcome, especially the environmental crisis, huge disparities in income and wealth, systemic racism, and conflicts between different genders, groups, regions, countries, and cultures. In order to come to grips with these problems, and others, it is imperative to make transcendental and not just transformational changes in our lifestyles, values, worldviews, actions, behaviour, and ways of life. The key to this lies in creating an effective balance between materialism and spiritualism, as well as placing a much higher priority on the cultivation of spirituality in our lives in the traditional and contemporary sense. Not only will this make it possible to reduce the colossal demands we are making on the natural environment – largely because most spiritual activities are "human intensive" rather than "material intensive" and therefore don’t consume as many natural resources as most other activities – but also it will enable present and future generations to experience a great deal more exuberance, exhilaration, and ecstasy in life without having to resort to drugs and other substances and devices to create "highs" and "peak experiences" because spiritual activities achieve this naturally. Many of these activities involve participating in causes that are greater than ourselves, joining protest movements aimed at creating more equality and justice in the world, going within ourselves to discover who we really are and what we were intended to realize in life, broaden and deepen our experiences in the arts, cultures, and the cultural heritage of humankind, and engage in explorations in nature and the natural realm that are capable of bringing us into contact with the sublime and possibly even the divine.

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