The Aesthetic Brain: How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art - Rilegato

Chatterjee MD, Anjan

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0199811806 ISBN 13: 9780199811809

Casa editrice: OUP USA, 2013

Riassunto

The Aesthetic Brain takes the reader on a wide-ranging journey through the world of beauty, pleasure, and art. Chatterjee uses neuroscience to probe how an aesthetic sense is etched in our minds and evolutionary psychology to explain why aesthetic concerns feature centrally in our lives. Along the way, Chatterjee addresses fundamental questions: What is beauty? Is beauty universal? How is beauty related to pleasure? What is art? Should art be beautiful? Do we have an instinct for art? Chatterjee starts by probing the reasons that we find people, places, and even numbers beautiful. At the root of beauty, he finds, is pleasure. He then examines our pleasures by dissecting why we want and why we like food, sex, and money and how these rewards relate to aesthetic encounters. His ruminations on beauty and pleasure prepare him and the reader to face art. He wanders through the problems of defining art, understanding contemporary art, and interpreting ancient art. He explores why art, something that seems so useless, also feels fundamental to our humanity. Replete with facts, anecdotes, and analogies, this empirical guide to aesthetics offers scientific answers without deflating the wonders of beauty and art.

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Recensione:

In this book, Dr Anjan Chatterjee. . . introduces us to the emerging field of neuroasthetics. . . In his cogent review of the long history of human artifact-making art, he carefully considers the many definitions of aesthetics, art, and beauty. . . The author comes to his persuasive conclusion after having carefully examined prehistoric art objects, the history of art, evolutionary biology, brain anatomy, and functional studies. (Roy G. Fitzgerald, MD, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Vol. 76, October 2015)

L'autore:

Anjan Chatterjee, MD, is a Professor of Neurology, and a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and the Center for Neuroscience and Society at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2002, he was awarded the Norman Geschwind Prize in Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology by the American Academy of Neurology. He is the President of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics and the President of the Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology Society. His neurology practice focuses on patients with cognitive disorders. His research focuses on spatial cognition, language, ethics, and aesthetics.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: OUP USA
• Data di pubblicazione: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199811806
• ISBN 13: 9780199811809
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 248