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The Aesthetic Brain

How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art

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The Aesthetic Brain

By: Anjan Chatterjee
Narrated by: Bernard Setaro Clark
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About this listen

The Aesthetic Brain takes the listener 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 listener 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.

©2014 Oxford University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc. Aesthetics Neuroscience & Neuropsychology Philosophy Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Human Brain Thought-Provoking Aesthetic Brain
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I really loved this book. I learned so much and it was really interesting! The narrator was really good as well. I enjoyed learning about aesthetics and the brain. Specifically, the parts explaining complexity and art.

A must have if you are interested in Aesthetics

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Lovely overview of aesthetics, beauty, art and other related topics provided with simple language and comprehensive arguments

Fantastic exploration into all of beauty

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