Kant, i Woodabe e gli uccelli giardinieri. Ontogenesi e filogenesi dell'istinto artistico

Abstract

Kant, the Woodabe and the Bowerbirds. Ontogenetics and Phylogenetics of the Artistic Instinct – Can we talk about art in terms of biological evolution? This article aims to revisits Kantian approaches to aesthetics in light of recent developments in the field of evolutionary psychology by providing a comparative analysis of Kant’s third Critique and the research of a number of contemporary scholars, including Denis Dutton, Ellen Dissanayake and Geoffrey Miller. Kant postulates the existence of a common aesthetic sense, a conceptual-emotional correlate that in his view provides proof for the universal validity of aesthetic judgments, while these researchers put forward several arguments that support a biological interpretation of art as the creative activity par excellence. In fact, art not only continues to be used for reproductive purposes in many contemporary cultures, like that of the Wodaabe in Central Africa, but there also appear to be genetic traits that predispose us to cross-cultural adaptations, when we are exposed to other cultural contexts. This may allow us to speak about art as a typically masculine instinct, driven by sexual selection. From this perspective, art can be considered to perform a utilitarian function, and we can approach it using a phylogenetic continuity framework. However, such a conceptualization stands in stark contrast to the Romantic in-tuition of an a-teleological universe. By juxtaposing the realist view of art as evolutionarily motivated, to that of art as purposeless beauty, I reveal a link between the German philosopher and contemporary aesthetic trends.

Keywords

• Kantian Aesthetics
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Art Instinct
• Aesthetic Judgment
• Sexual Selection