Andrew Krump on Denis Dutton

The idea I found most impactful in Dutton’s lecture was his claim that we can trace our enjoyment of art to primitive demonstrations of skill, such as making hand axes, that communicated fitness for mating. Dutton summarized our sense of artistic beauty as a reaction to something that is done well. This statement confirmed one of my closely held beliefs that evolutionary processes have extraordinary explanatory power and influence nearly every aspect of the human experience.

My respect for evolution stems from a belief that logic and reason are the highest human ideals and add incredible depth to the human experience relative to less intelligent animals. For me, evolution is also awe inspiring because it describes a force that transcends time and space and, in some sense, connects all life together.

The reverence I personally feel for evolution and science has implications for my positioning in the “science wars”. I do not view Dutton’s comments as an attack on individual and cultural experience shaping our sense of beauty. Reading Dutton’s lecture, or any other Darwinian explanation for human experiences, does not have to result in a sense of genetic pre-determinism or the mechanization of daily existence. On the contrary, seeking to understand the biological underpinnings of why we feel what we feel should be empowering. To me, Dutton’s claims can be reduced to amazement that humans have become so intelligent that they can reframe an ancient advantage in sexual selection into an enjoyment of modern art.