Lily Terhune

November 1, 2014

Professor Young

ENGW 1110

Dennis Dutton talks about beauty as something that is constantly evolving. Dennis argues on Ted Talks, “I have no doubt whatsoever that the experience of beauty, with its emotional intensity and pleasure, belongs to our evolved human psychology. The experience of beauty is one component in a whole series of Darwinian adaptations. Beauty is an adaptive effect, which we extend and intensify in the creation and enjoyment of works of art and entertainment.” His point about beauty is that our definition of beauty changes along with our evolution. There are also different kinds of beauty. There is natural beauty and artistic beauty. The definition of beauty varies from each person’s opinion on what pleases their eye and arouses them.

What pleases many eyes is the hand axe. Dennis makes the point that the ancient hand axe is beautiful. We aren't sure what the hand axe was exactly used for. From the hand axe’s symmetry to the hand axe’s blades, it is viewed as beautiful. Beauty goes back all the way to the ancient times. The artifacts were the earliest forms of art. They had jewelry and makeup which all represented beauty.

Evolution tricks us to be aroused by the sight of something, resulting in us finding it beautiful. Today, we look to movies and landscapes as beautiful. We also think people and and food can be beautiful. But all these things are so vastly different. That is why Dutton thinks we do not have a set definition on what we think is beautiful. The experience of beauty changes with our human evolution.