At what point in mankind's evolution

[Miss Chicken]

do you think that he looked at a sunset and thought 'this is beautiful' and what benefit could he possibly derive from recognising such beauty? Is the recognisition of such beauty inate or does it have to be taught?

Do you think that any other species are capable of recognising such forms of beauty?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Do you think that any other species are capable of recognising such forms of beauty?

Yes, and it is arrogant to assume otherwise.

 

[FordSVT]

Well, it's a fact that some kinds of animals are capable of choosing an aesthetic favourite. Does an elephant or a chimp watch the sunset (or a waterfall, or...) for pleasure? I'm not sure, you'd have to ask one.

Actually, I think that would be a good question to ask someone like Jane Goodall is you ever had the chance, someone who has spent time with animals in the wild.

 

[PlixTixiplik]

Based on discoveries of art, burial, and other evidence for ritualistic beliefs associated with hominid fossils, it seems likely that anatomically modern Homo sapiens, around 125,000 years ago, was able of comprehending abstract concepts like beauty. It's possible that earlier hominids were also aware of aesthetics, but fossil evidence for abstract thought is a bit sketchier. The fact that other non-human primates (such as gorillas) seem to understand abstract concepts may suggest an earlier origin.

The evolutionary basis for aesthetics is probably not a direct selective pressure, but rather is an indirect consequence of the behavioral evolution associated with living in social groups. Much of our behavior (such as altruism, kindness, jealousy, etc) evolved to promote and facilitate social cohesion and the ability to understand abstract concepts, and especially to empathize and understand feelings and motivation of other humans, would have been very important for those situations.

As for other animals, that may be more difficult to tell because of our tendency to anthropomorphize their behavior. I would guess the answer is no, except for other higher primates.

-MEC

 

[Miss Chicken]

As for other animals, that may be more difficult to tell because of our tendency to anthropomorphize their behavior. I would guess the answer is no, except for other higher primates.

I remember having a discussion on this topic with a guy some time ago. He believed that bowerbirds must have an understanding of beauty because of the way males decorated their bowers. I disagreed. I think that when a male bowerbird builds a bower, or a female looks at it, they are trying to make sure it is 'correct' rather than 'beautiful'. They birds have a blueprint in their mind that they cannot deviate away from and are not actually creating art. Of course I might be totally wrong.