[MD] The difference between a Monet and a finger painting

[Ant McWatt]

Ian Glendinning stated January 19th 2010:

> I'm reading Brian Boyd "On the Origin of Stories" at the moment, most
> of which so far is on the history of arts generally from a natural
> evolutionary perspective.


Ant McWatt says:

Ian, 

That's an interesting reference especially with its mention of Homer's "Odyssey".  For anyone else interested here is part of the publisher's summary:


On the Origin of Stories 

Evolution,Cognition, and Fiction 


Brian Boyd

A century and a half after the publication of Origin of Species, evolutionary
thinking has expanded beyond the field of biology to include virtually all
human-related subjects—anthropology, archeology, psychology, economics,
religion, morality, politics, culture, and art. Now a distinguished scholar
offers the first comprehensive account of the evolutionary origins of art and
storytelling. Brian Boyd explains why we tell stories, how our minds are shaped
to understand them, and what difference an evolutionary understanding of human
nature makes to stories we love... 

After considering art as adaptation, Boyd examines Homer’s Odyssey and Dr. Seuss’s 
Horton Hears a Who! demonstrating how an evolutionary lens can offer new 
understanding and appreciation of specific works. What triggers our emotional 
engagement with these works? What patterns facilitate our responses? The need to 
hold an audience’s attention, Boyd underscores, is the fundamental problem facing 
all storytellers. Enduring artists arrive at solutions that appeal to cognitive
universals: an insight out of step with contemporary criticism, which obscures
both the individual and universal. 

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/BOYORI.html



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