Evolutionary perspective in empirical aesthetics : basic ideas, traditions, problems

The article presents the main assumptions, traditions and problems, which make up the evolutionary perspective in studies of human aesthetic taste. Article begins by describing the main assumptions of evolutionary aesthetics and presenting the aesthetic theory of Ellen Dissanayake, which is regarded as the most general approach to this problem. Then the article discusses the natural evolutionary adaptations, distinguished by evolutionary scientists. Evolutionary theory assumes that as a result of development of the human makeup in the course of evolution have developed some universal aesthetic predispositions (e.g. a penchant for of the representations of certain animals or preferring images of a day over images of a night). The final part of the article discusses some difficulties, which evolutionary aesthetics has to face. The objective of this article is to draw attention to social scientists on this research perspective, as in the author’s opinion it can enrich the classical studies based on the paradigm derived from the works of Pierre Bourdieu.