PUBLIC LECTURE: Art and the Evolution of Culture

An IAS public lecture by Professor Robert H. Layton, Department of Anthropology, University of Durham (UK).

Several attempts have been made by evolutionary psychologists to explain the evolution of art, in particular Miller’s (2000) argument that art originated during the Pleistocene, as a form of male display to attract mates, and Thornhill and Gangestad’s (1999) experiments suggesting that our appreciation of symmetry evolved because facial symmetry signals reproductive health.

These theories will induce a sense of déjà vu among many anthropologists. Durkheim argued as long ago as 1901 that socio-cultural phenomena ‘should not be confused with biological phenomena, since they consist of representations and actions; nor with psychological phenomena, which exist only in the individual consciousness.’ However, evolutionary biology and psychology have made huge advances during the last hundred years. If anthropology can benefit from their findings without repeating the mistakes of nineteenth-century science, we may indeed advance our knowledge of how and why art evolved in human culture. The ethologist Tinbergen famously distinguished four questions to ask of any evolved social behaviour. Applying these questions to anthropological case studies of art helps to distinguish the universal from the culturally-specific, and inherent psychological tendencies from their diverse expressions in social life.

This lecture is free. No RSVP required.