The Art Instinct — Page-by-Page Notes

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• Book title and author: The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, & Human Evolution by Denis Dutton.

• This page serves as the book’s front matter, indicating the bibliographic identity of the work (publisher: Bloomsbury Press; locations: New York, Berlin, London). It frames the book as an exploration of beauty, pleasure, and human evolution.

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• Copyright and permissions: Copyright © 2009 by Denis Dutton. No part may be reproduced without written permission except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

• Publisher and production notes: Bloomsbury Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. First U.S. Edition 2009.

• Production details: Paper is natural, recyclable, from wood grown in well-managed forests; manufacturing conforms to environmental regulations.

• Library of Congress data: Cataloging-in-Publication information with subject headings (Aesthetics; Art-Philosophy; Evolution (Biology); Instinct).

• ISBNs: ext{ISBN-13: 9;r8-I-S969I-40I-8 (alk. paper)} and ext{ISBN-10: I-5969I-401-7 (alk. paper)} (OCR artifacts present in the transcript).

• Miscellany: Acknowledgments to designer Rachel Reiss; typesetting by Westchester Book Group; printed in the USA by Québecor World Fairfield.

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• Core question introduced: If there is a human instinct to produce and enjoy artistic experiences, what would universal aesthetics or a theory of art look like?

• Key interlocutor: Julius Moravcsik, a contemporary philosopher who has offered systematic thoughts on universal art.

• Central methodological distinction: Moravcsik separates two questions:

  • What is the meaning of the word “art”? (semantic question about the term)

  • Is there an art-like universal category that transcends cultures? (empirical universal/general question)

• Analogy with language: Language is a dual concept—an idea (language as a phenomenon) and a word (“language”) that is culturally contingent. Debates about the borders of the word do not necessarily negate the cross-cultural reality of language as a natural category.

• Moravcsik’s point: For universal generalizations, we seek lawlike generalizations that are not merely definitional or accidental (examples: beavers build dams is not a definitional attribute of beavers, yet it is a robust generalization).

• Implication for aesthetics: An empirical, cross-cultural approach to art should aim for generalizations about widespread phenomena, not merely defend a given definition of “art.”

• Historical note: Aesthetic theories have often been shaped by their own times (Plato and Aristotle tied to Greek arts and metaphysics; Hume and Kant to 18th-century aesthetics; modern theorists like Bell, Collingwood, Danto, Dada, Duchamp, etc. influence ongoing debates).

• Outcome: As art forms and theories evolve, aesthetics continually shifts its focus; there is no stable, final theory, but ongoing disputation.

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• Reiteration of Moravcsik’s framework: Universal aesthetics should be studied as a natural category, not merely as a definitional border dispute.

• Philosophical distortions: Bias arises from theorists’ personal aesthetic predilections (e.g., Kant’s selective focus on poetry while dismissing color in painting; Bell’s emphasis on painting and extrapolation to other arts).

• Risk of overgeneralization: Personal enthusiasm can mislead about art’s broader cross-cultural validity.

• Three impediments to robust aesthetics:
  1) Personal aesthetic bias
  2) Cultural bias
  3) The rhetoric of philosophy that seeks a single definitive position and discredits alternatives

• Consequence: Such biases lead to selective emphasis in aesthetics and hinder a broad, cross-cultural understanding of art.

• Counterpoint: Despite these biases, historical texts and diverse traditions offer rich insights; the goal is to push the argument forward, not to resolve it once and for all.

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• Problem of bias continued: Kant, Bell, and other theorists let personal tastes steer theory, sometimes to absurd conclusions (e.g., Kant on color in painting; Bell on painting’s illustrative role).

• The function of provocative extremes: Extreme positions provide historical context, aesthetic insights, and teaching value by inviting counterarguments.

• The paradox of aesthetics today: We have unprecedented cross-cultural access to art across time, yet philosophical speculation often narrows to a few marginal cases (e.g., Duchamp’s readymades, 4’33"); this misrepresents the center of art.

• Central proposal: Begin with art as a field of activities, objects, and experiences that naturally occur in human life, then build theory from a stable center rather than marginal outliers.

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• Practical problem with “outliers”: Hard cases (like Duchamp’s Fountain, 4’33”, or Sherrie Levine’s work) dominate the literature, shaping theory more than widely shared artistic experiences.

• Legal analogy: Just as hard cases can lead to bad law, focusing on art’s extremes can mislead aesthetics away from its core. Start from undisputed cases to derive general principles.

• Methodology: A naturalistic approach begins from cross-cultural patterns of behavior and discourse around making, experiencing, and judging art.

• Meta-claim: The arts can be understood as universal through shared patterns of practice and reception, not solely through abstract theorizing.

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• Summary of the naturalistic approach: The center of cross-cultural aesthetics consists of core, observable patterns in the making, experiencing, and judging of art.

• Twelve cluster criteria (defined as cross-cultural, non-definitional core features). These criteria are not mere definitions; they are observable features that commonly appear in diverse art traditions.

• Clarifications about the list:

  • The list is inclusive and cross-cultural but not a mere compromise among competing theories.

  • The list is not claimed to be uniquely necessary for all art, but it provides a practical framework for evaluating art across cultures.

• Important caveat: There is no single, fixed definition of art; the list is a tool for identifying widely shared features and for addressing borderline cases.

• Terminology note: The terms “art” and “arts” refer to artifacts (sculptures, paintings, tools, bodies decorated, scores, texts) and performances (dances, music, storytelling), with attention to production, experience, and evaluation.

• Novice vs. expert: The list is intended as a neutral basis for theoretical speculation, not a concession to every cultural particularity.

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• The twelve cluster criteria begin with I. Direct pleasure.

• 1) Direct pleasure: The art object, narrative, performance, or decorated artifact is valued for its immediate experiential pleasure in itself, not primarily for its utility.

• Aesthetic pleasure arises from multiple sources and can be layered: pure color, well-structured narrative, harmonious music, or the visual/relational coherence of an artwork.

• Concept of organic unity: Pleasure often arises from multiple, interacting pleasures that are coherently related to the work (unity in diversity).

• This pleasure is often described as “for its own sake,” though similar pleasures appear in sports, food, nature experiences, etc.

• Note: The text acknowledges that such pleasures may have deep evolutionary roots, similar to the pleasures associated with sex or fatty foods.

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• 2) Skill and virtuosity: The object or performance demonstrates specialized skills acquired through apprenticeship or natural talent.

• Distinction between communal skill and individual mastery: In some cultures, communal practices (singing/dancing) involve standout individuals; in others, talent is recognized even when skills are widely shared.

• The universal admiration of high skill is tied to emotional responses (jaw-dropping, tears, etc.).

• Skill’s broad relevance: Skill is valued beyond art (e.g., sports); world records reflect a universal impulse to recognize virtuosity.

• 3) Style: Art forms exhibit recognizable styles defined by form, composition, or expression.

• Styles provide both a stable background for novelty and a space for expressive surprise; evolution of style can be conservative or innovative.

• Variance in styles exists across cultures; tradition can constrain or enable creative variation.

• Styles function to liberate as well as constrain artistic freedom; they are not a prison.

• Note: Daily human activities (gestures, language, social etiquette) operate within stylistic frameworks, implying a near-coterminous link between style and culture.

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• 4) Novelty and creativity: Art is valued for its newness, originality, and capacity to surprise.

• Creativity encompasses both attention-grabbing innovation and deep exploration of medium/theme; these aspects overlap but can be distinct (e.g., The Rite of Spring for novelty vs. Pride and Prejudice for exploring deeper possibilities).

• Creativity is a marker of individuality or genius and is valued across many domains, including ordinary life (e.g., varied word choice in writing; the helpful role of a thesaurus).

• 5) Criticism: Art forms are accompanied by evaluative language, including discourse among critics and audiences; criticism itself is a social performance and is itself subject to evaluation.

• Variation in criticism: It can be rudimentary in nonliterate societies and more elaborate in literate European and Asian contexts. Critics frequently critique one another.

• Analogy: Criticism operates in many domains where outcomes are complex and open-ended, not just in aesthetics.

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• 6) Representation: Art objects imitate or represent real or imagined experiences; naturalistic or stylized representations are valued.

• Aristotle noted irreducible pleasure in representation (e.g., realistic details); representation also provides pleasure in how well representation is achieved and in the subject matter itself.

• Representational pleasure can come from the craft of depiction as well as from the depicted subject.

• The reach of representation extends to maps, blueprints, passport photos, etc., which are forms of imitation.

• 7) Special focus: Art tends to be bracketed off from ordinary life and given heightened attention (Dissanayake’s “making special”).

• Presentation elements (frames, stages, lighting, price, ceremonial aspects) contribute to a sense of singular importance.

• Foregrounding features occur across religious rites, royal ceremonies, political events, advertising, and sports.

• The common thread is a distinct theatricality or special focus in various experiences.

• 8) Expressive individuality: Art commonly affords the expression of individual personality; while some productive activities are impersonal, arts tend toward open-ended achievement that invites personal expression.

• The claim that artistic individuality is a Western construct is false; examples from nonliterate cultures (e.g., New Guinea) show valued individual talent and authorship without explicit signatures.

• Everyday life also contains opportunities for expressive individuality; the interest lies in the quality of mind behind expression, not merely the act of expression itself.

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• 9) Emotional saturation: Art experiences are imbued with emotion, both through the emotions depicted in representation and through the distinctive emotional tone of the work itself.

• Two senses of emotion in art: (a) emotions provoked by the depicted content (pathos, etc.) and (b) the artwork’s own emotional flavor or tonal quality that may be distinct from any specific representational emotion.

• The second sense captures the unique emotional contour of a work (e.g., a Chekhov story or a Brahms symphony). Ordinary life experiences can also be emotional, but art adds a distinctive emotional perspective.

• 10) Intellectual challenge: Great works engage a broad set of perceptual and cognitive abilities, sometimes requiring synthesis and problem-solving.

• Examples: Complex plots, recognizing problems, balancing elements in a painting, or identifying transformations in a musical work.

• Even seemingly simple works (e.g., Duchamp’s readymades) can provide intellectual pleasure through interpretive depth.

• Everyday parallels: Games (chess, Trivial Pursuit), complex recipes, home projects, and problem-solving tasks offer analogous intellectual engagement and mastery.

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• 11) Art traditions and institutions: Art objects and performances gain identity through historical tradition and precedent; historical lines and institutional contexts shape meaning.

• Levinson’s view: Identity is tied to historical tradition; institutional theories (Danto, Diffey, Dickie) emphasize art worlds and socially constructed contexts.

• Contrast: A work like Beethoven’s Ninth may be rooted in tradition yet capable of widespread meaning beyond its institutional context.

• Duchamp’s Fountain, for example, requires awareness of art history or context; but many canonical works accumulate meaning through their engagement with tradition and institutions.

• Note: Institutional theory extends beyond art to broader social practices (medicine, warfare, education, politics, technology, science).

• 12) Imaginative experience: The most important characteristic; art provides an imaginative experience for producers and audiences.

• A sculpture can imitate an animal yet become an imaginative object; stories (mythology or personal histories) generate imaginative engagement.

• The theater of the imagination is central to art, akin to Kant’s notion of art as a presentation to the imagination independent of practical concerns.

• Even nonrepresentational or abstract art remains an imaginative experience, as art happens in an imaginative space, not merely in imitation.

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• Synthesis of the cluster criteria: Taken together, the twelve criteria define art as a cross-cultural phenomenon, not reducible to a single essence or a mere set of technical terms.

• Distinction from technical analysis: The list is about surface features observable across cultures, not about formal terms like “form” and “content.”

• Analogy to science: A chemist would define methanol by CH3OH (not by broader categories); similarly, one does not need expert opinion to decide if something is art, but a robust framework helps evaluate borderline cases.

• Future neurophysiological or physical analyses: Even if brain scans or molecular techniques identify artistic experiences, these would still need to be interpreted through cluster criteria to describe art in human terms.

• H. Gene Blocker’s observation: Artists are often innovators and may appear socially alienated; however, this is not a reliable universal marker of art (many innovative artists are not socially alienated, and many non-artists are rare or costly).

• Costliness and rarity are relevant but not definitive criteria for art.

• Exclusions: Background conditions (artifact status, audience for the work) and expressive/cultural-identity claims are not included as hard criteria for recognizing art.

• View on cultural identity: Art often affirms cultural identity, but this is not a universal intention nor a necessary criterion for recognizing art.

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• Formal definition and closure: The cluster-criteria approach does not specify how many criteria must be met to count as art; it provides a comprehensive definition when all criteria are present, but it remains a practical guide for hard or marginal cases.

• The framework helps analyze borderline cases like global sporting spectacles (e.g., World Cup finals, Super Bowl) to see whether they count as art.

• Application to sports: Such events exhibit skill, drama, emotion, and special focus, but they often lack imaginative experience as a central, make-believe/imagined space for contemplation.

• The author’s stance on sports as art: A Harlem Globetrotters performance is closer to an art event because both teams actively entertain for an audience, akin to a jazz ensemble or a studio film. In contrast, a championship game is a real-world outcome-driven event, not primarily a Kantian “presentation” of imaginative contemplation.

• Open-endedness: The list invites debate and acknowledges diverse interpretations; readers can dispute whether certain cases (e.g., sports championships) meet the criteria.

• Historical note: Humans recognized and engaged with arts long before formal aesthetics theories; arts are a persistent, cross-cultural aspect of life, akin to religion, family, war, and social life.

• Final caution: Definitional boundaries should not stunt creative imagination; a definition should support, not hinder, the arts. The arts remain as they are, and aesthetic theory serves as their handmaiden, not their master.

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• Reflection on future discoveries: The possibility that neurophysiological methods or molecular analyses might someday identify elements of artistic experience, but such methods would still need to be interpreted within the cluster-criteria framework.

• The cluster criteria provide the current understanding of the arts and are likely to remain largely intact into the foreseeable future, with possible minor edge adjustments (adding/removing items).

• Rebuttal of a too-narrow focus: Narrow recovery of art through highly technical definitions risks ignoring the broader, cross-cultural, lived reality of artistic practice.

• Closing thought: The arts are grand, persistent features of human life, similar in importance to religion, family, friendship, society, or war; aesthetics is their handmaiden, guiding understanding without constraining creativity.

• Final sentiment: The arts will endure, and aesthetic theory should aim to harmonize with their expansive, cross-cultural, and imaginative nature.

• Note on the LaTeX-formatted content used here:

  • Where relevant, mathematical-like expressions or scientific references appear, they may be represented in LaTeX for clarity. For example, a chemical formula mentioned in the text can be rendered as ext{CH}_3 ext{OH} when discussing methanol analogies.