







































  

    

 American Journal of Art and Communication 

Vol.8, Issue 2; March-April - 2023; 

ISSN: 2994-0540 

Impact Factor: 6.91 

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EVOLUTIONARY INSIGHTS INTO THE GENESIS OF 

VISUAL ART  
  

Dr. Emily A. Johnson 

Senior Lecturer and Adjunct Faculty Mentor, Moser College - Benedictine University, USA. 

 

Abstract: This discourse delves into the origins of the fine arts, particularly the visual arts, 

through the lens of Darwinian evolution and inherited traits. Employing a primarily 

materialist philosophical ontology and a scientific epistemology, it offers an unconventional 

perspective on art history by approaching it from a biological historiographical standpoint. 

Rather than proposing a singular hereditary origin for the visual arts, this discourse explores 

the possibility that artistic creation and appreciation may also have genetic and material 

underpinnings within the human as a material entity. 

 

Keywords: Fine arts, Visual arts, Darwinian evolution, Inherited traits, Biological 

historiography 

 

Introduction  

This discourse, concerning the origins of the fine arts (and more specifically the visual arts), 

is explored through Darwinian evolution and inherited traits. Using a primarily materialist 

philosophical ontology, and a scientific epistemology, I hope to explain art history from a 

biological historiography.   

In this discourse, I will not propose a sole hereditary origin for the visual arts, but allow for a 

view that is also not solely anthropologically and/or sociologically driven. In other words, the 

creation and study of the visual arts, need not be originated in only as a social construct or 

cultural product, but might also be a genetically, materially originated function of the human 

as a material entity.  

An exploration of primate evolution will allow for a greater understanding of the philosophy 

of art, not necessarily the practice or purpose. That is, at some level we can speculate that 

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deep-rooted in the human subconscious there is: 1) an instinct to create, 2) an instinct to value 

or appreciate beauty and 3) an instinct to imagine (by faculty of symbolic thinking, 

conceptualization and at some level deception).   

I will rely on Thomas Kuhn, who pioneered the historiography of science, and draw parallels 

between his outline of revolutions punctuating the ontology of science. I will apply this 

historiographic methodology and when applied to the visual arts, art history becomes: 1) a 

discipline of knowledge (not just of practice) and 2) an evolutionary advantage (a survival 

adaptation by means of natural selection).   

Adopting a perspective of art in a similar fashion to Kuhn viewing science as a series of 

paradigms disrupted by scientific revolutions; we are able to understand art as progressive 

and not merely aesthetically-orientated (based solely on cultural or population’s taste). 

Likewise, by adopting a materialist perspective we are able to see the nature of artistic 

development, the patterns formed with visual art’s origins, andneed not rely on only a 

progressive construct of art history but a thematic and contextual one, as well.   

The Historical Dialogue  

Thesis  

By exploring the physical, paleontological evidence and anthropologic findings, this 

discourse will conclude there are three fundamental evolutionary adaptations which have 

allowed the higher primates to develop art: 1) the physical adaptations and success of the 

primate lineages (including the genus Homo), 2) the development of interdependence in the 

primate lineages and 3) the development of intelligence. These three factors will help us 

discover (at least in part) the origins of the visual arts. Combined, these faculties allow for 

not only the appreciation of the aesthetic, but also the manipulation of natural material to 

create the aesthetic.   

Furthermore, the best way to analyze art through criticism or historical perspective, is not 

through abstract philosophy, phenomenology, or theory, but rather through a scientific 

exploration of evolutionary sources of the aesthetic sense.   

This scientific methodology, owes much to the historiography of art history (and criticism) 

established by the great thinkers of the continental tradition. However, the next step in the 

progression of this thinking, is to embrace the rational, the testable, and the scientific.   

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Materialist Perspective  

The Western worldview owes as much too continental philosophy, as much as it does to 

materialism. Specifically, the materialism which so embodies a scientific methodology (such 

as expressed by Darwinism), and that method’s origin in Marxist dialectical materialism.   

What we know as science or the scientific approach, is uniquely indebted to Marixsm, if not 

as its progenitor then certainly as science can be applied to the human, to the human mind, to 

the human condition, and to human sociology  

(psychology, behavior, culture etc.).   

Under this model, all things – including human consciousness – are products of material. 

Materialism thus rejects idealism, and describes everything, including the faculties of mind, 

as processes of material. The human entity is thus a material entity, and its ability to sense the 

aesthetics, the ethics, the ontology, and the epistemology of the world, lie in physicalism not 

in some metaphysicalism. Matter is the explanation – in totality –for intelligence, 

consciousness, nature, space, time, history, culture, behavior, and cause and effect (Marx, 47, 

96).  

Although similar to theorists before him, Marx describes the progress of the human mind and 

of human history (its society, its culture, and its civilization) as moving forward. But unlike 

his predecessors, Marx argues that it is not human ideas that define succession, it is matter 

(Marx, 11). For Marx, this meant the drive lies in the material needs: the physical 

requirements for existence, happiness, justice and aesthetic.  

Marx’s materialism is rooted in his economic theories, specifically production, alienation and 

labor. The motivation of historical society comes from the antagonism between the classes 

and their pursuits of the material (Marx, 50 – 53).   

The enterprise of humanity is the development of new societies through evolution of the 

material world: material needs, material existence. Spirit and idea have little place in Marx’s 

theory of human nature (Marx, 10).   

Though there are many objections to materialism, especially from disciplines in philosophy 

and religion, it would be hard press to argue that the Western tradition is not deeply rooted in 

materialism. The natural extension of Marxist philosophy of nature leads one to Charles 

Darwin and Sigmund Freud. Under these models, the human being – its nature and its 

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consciousness – become reduced to the most fundamental matter. Under Darwin, the human 

is no different than any animal or living organism. The human’s brain is nothing but the next 

progression of the ape’s, the dog’s, the reptile’s, the fish’s etc. His motivations and his 

enterprises are natural ones, defined by his material needs.   

The human ceases being a prize of this world, and is diminished to matter – the interaction of 

his matter, either in body or brain. His love, his hate, his hunger, his fear, his deceptions, his 

desires are no different than any other animal’s. The human is a creature of survival, and does 

what it can to survive best. Survival in this sense is the preservation of matter. And under this 

context, there is little room for idealism or spiritualism.  

Freud takes us one step further in materialism, by reducing the human psyche to chemical 

processes and interactions of psychical processes. Not only is the human comprised of simple 

biology, but his personality, his character, his identity are mere expressions of the psychical 

apparatus. Such a reduction, brings the human being to the most elementary materialism.   

It is because of Darwin and Freud, that I argue the Western tradition is materialist. It is so, 

not without objection, but as an age – as a society at this time and place – the Western tradition 

is post-Marxist, post-Darwinian, and post-Freudian. The worldview cannot escape its history. 

Even those who object to the purely materialist perspective, can only do so as a rejection of 

it, or a compromise under dualism. We cannot undo the theories of the preceding culture. And 

thus, we either must react to them, or embody them.   

Our age is defined by this kind of materialism. A materialist historiography of the human 

knowledge is the next litmus in testing the path history and society takes.  

Arguments for Materialism in Art History  

I cannot overstate the importance of Marxist, Darwinian and Freudian materialism. This 

perspective is unique, to the modern and the postmodern, in that it allows for the overcoming 

of the vagueness of idealism, rationalism, and transcendentalism. The definitions of mind, 

nous, spirit and soul are certainly vague, because of their intangibility. In a post-materialist 

world, it is difficult to argue for properties that have no testable, repeatable, and/or observable 

presence.   

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Materialism corrects the issues of understanding how the phenomenal and the noumenal 

worlds interact. Often, materialism comes under such criticisms as conceivability, 

conditionalism, dualism, and disembodiment arguments.   

The conceivability argument is based on logical fallacy. If metaphysical phenomena are 

possible to conceive, then such phenomena are possible to exist – if not physically, certainly 

logically. However, what use is such an argument when trying to understand human nature? 

Simply because I conceive of something, does not mean that is exists, can exist, or will exist. 

In fact, quite the contrary is true. Materialism is not false simply because metaphysics can be 

conceived of – in fact, using the same argument, metaphysics can be unraveled.   

The conditional argument is that some experiences or objects are difficult to classify because 

they are provisional, unconfirmed, or subjective.Materialism supports an objective expression 

of matter, and thus all matter should experience other matter in the same way. We know this 

not to be the case, from our own personal experiences, as well as the descriptions of 

experiences by others. However, like the conceivability argument, this is simply a logical 

fallacy. The apparent hole in the conditional argument is that subjectivity refutes the 

possibility of objectivity. There are scores of theories and thought experiments that argue our 

limited perception of reality is simply denying our senses the objective truth. Interestingly 

enough, such theories actually support the conceivability argument, in that if our perceptions 

are limited then other versions of reality are conceivable – especially metaphysical spheres.  

Dualism and the disembodiment state that there is a division between the physical body and 

another sort of body (a transcendent body, a spiritual body, a virtual body etc.). Yet dualism 

or disembodiment, create intrinsic problems: violation of the conservation of energy, the 

simplest solution is the best solution, and most importantly, how does the metaphysical world 

interact with the physical.   

I think the reason materialism has survived the Western consciousness, is due to its simplicity, 

its elegance, and its utility. Conditionalism, conceivability, dualism, and other arguments, 

almost always seem to not suffice in refuting materialism because they rely on premises that: 

1) are not consistent with our experience with the world, 2) violate our intuitions and sense 

of order, 3) are not universally shared, and/or 4) are too vague. Materialism removes the “gray 

areas” between black and white.  

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With this said, it would be hard to refute that materialism has dominated the Western 

consciousness. Even though many reconcile materialism with metaphysical perspectives, 

what materialism offers is a worldview that does not necessitate itself on metaphysical 

ontologies.   

In the postmodern era, the age has been defined by materialism or the reaction to it. As we 

live in the current age, it makes sense to incorporate materialism in our discourse. Materialism 

propagates, disseminated throughout our experiences. We trust in materialism when 

describing the world, phenomena, process, and procedure. It is appropriate then to use 

materialism, in any discipline. We are comfortable with materialist axioms in science, 

mathematics, and other empirical disciplines. But it is also a practical foundation for 

discussions of aesthetic disciplines such as art.  

Major Thinkers on the Topic  

Thomas Kuhn and the Paradigm Shift  

In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn proposed a linear model for the 

progression of science. In this model science maintains a paradigm of accepted truths, and 

undergoes a violent change during a period of revolution ultimately concluding in a paradigm 

shift. Such examples include the Copernican, Newtonian, Darwinian and Einstenian 

revolutions – each time the accepted ideas underwent drastic change (Kuhn, 94).  

For all intents and purposes, Thomas Kuhn’s description of a paradigm becomes applicable 

to both philosophy (and historiography) and science. This is not as preposterous as it might 

sound, as these two disciplines historically were considered one in the same under the heading 

natural philosopher (up until the followers of Newton began practicing what we might call 

true science) (Kuhn, 19).  

Kuhn’s basis is that philosophy/science have quite a linear evolution; development moves 

from one paradigm to the next, crushing the preexisting mode of thought. Through 

advancement, paradigms shift, creating changes in the understanding/use of science. With 

each shift greater possibilities and circumstances arise. Kuhn writes: “Successive transition 

from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual developmental pattern of mature 

science” (Kuhn, 12).   

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Kuhn’s definition of paradigm relies on two philosophical standards: 1) ontology and 2) 

epistemology. “Ontology [and] epistemology used to be the major concern of philosophy” 

(Mayr, 78), but today they have been absorbed by science.  As science’s roots lie in natural 

philosophy, it is no surprise that a paradigm requires both: the accepted truths about existence 

and the methods by which we ascertain knowledge.    

In this sense, we can think of the word paradigm as the metaphorical box. This box contains 

all the preexisting knowledge acquired (ontological views) and ways of using this knowledge 

(epistemological). Inside this box we would find a set of rules by which a society or group of 

scientists has accepted. These rules form a pattern (a set of practices) which defines the shape 

and size of the box (that is, the discipline itself in a particular moment in history). The 

paradigm shift is then thinking outside of the box.   

Historically, the most widely accepted paradigms have had two key factors: 1) unprecedented 

achievement; which attracts new generations of scientists (steering them away from other 

paradigms) and 2) open-endedness; allowing these new generations to resolve new problems 

within the paradigm (Kuhn, 23-24). This allows for scientists to routinely work through 

research and experimentation within the paradigm (not having to develop a new paradigm). 

Slowly, scientists accumulate data to support (or in some cases deny) a broad theory. This 

description of science, the relationship of paradigms and paradigm shifts is defined as normal 

science by Kuhn.  

Kuhn proposes that empirical data is only possible and meaningful through prior paradigms 

which shape the experience of that data (Kuhn, 121).Although some philosophers and 

historiographers of science disagree with the Kuhnian model of normal science, the paradigm 

serves as an organizing principle within science. The paradigm establishes criteria and 

parameters which is precisely the purpose of the Scientific Method – verifiability, and 

reproducibility which standardizes science. These qualities are what give science preeminent 

position in dictating truth, objectivity and fact in the Western, and the materialist, worldview.  

Charles Darwin and the Evolution of Humankind  

The current paradigm accepted by all scientific disciplines, is evolution. Although the current 

incarnation of evolution is a combination of Charles Darwin’s natural selection and modern 

understanding of genetics, Darwin was unaware of the mechanism which drove evolution. At 

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his time of publishing On the Origin of Species, genetics had yet to be discovered. But the 

mechanism is not fundamental to evolution, at least not in a philosophical or Western 

worldview.   

When Charles Darwin first published his theory of natural selection in regards to species 

transmutation, he did more than develop a mechanism for evolution. The hypotheses 

proposed in On the Origins of Species have been applied to a multitude of disciplines, 

including: economics, sociology, psychology, education and eugenics.   

In On the Origin of the Species, Darwin thoroughly outlines his theory. Natural selection is 

the process by which favorable traits are passed down through variation. In this model of 

evolution, organisms change, develop and advance through circumstances by which variation 

allows for the fittest creatures to survive and succeed. Darwin defines success based on 

reproducibility – that is, a species which is able to maintain a healthy population has been 

selected naturally to defy extinction (Darwin, 28).  

The importance of this model lies within the mode by which organisms can be successful. 

Unlike other variations of development and materialism, evolution by natural selection places 

emphasis on two key components: 1) fitness and 2) inheritable fitness. The first of these 

components can be defined as the ability to succeed; specifically the mode by which an 

organism succeeds.   

It is the collection of traits which allow the organism to continue and fulfill component two – 

the passing of heritable traits to future generations. A member of a given species survives 

mainly to produce more of its species. Those offspring will thus possess the traits which are 

best suited for fitness, as those organisms are the most likely to survive (Darwin, 238, 512). 

And those organisms which survive are able to reproduce (conversely, those organisms which 

do not reproduce must not have possessed the ideal traits).   

Frogs, which secret a poison in their skin, can evade predators. Their bright coloration warns 

predators of their toxins and therefore allows them a better chance at survival.   

Those frogs which have a similar coloration but do not possess the toxin, are also likely to 

survive because predators will be less inclined to take a chance and eat these frogs (for fear 

of poisoning). The trait then of bright coloration is a trait of fitness. And has been naturally 

selected to be passed on to generation after generation because it: 1) works as a deterrent to 

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predators, 2) increases the chance of survival and 3) those frogs that are not eaten are able to 

reproduce.   

“[Evolution] has encountered considerable resistance… among essentialismcommitted 

philosophers” (Mayr, 34).  “Essentialism, with its emphasis on discontinuity, constancy, and 

typical values, dominated the thinking of the western world” (Mayr, 38).   In this view, all 

bodies or materials have a specific set of characteristic properties (essences). These essences 

are comparable to Plato’s forms or ideals – essentialism is an extension of Platonic idealism: 

all objects can be quantified and qualified by their substance (or in Platonic sense, their ideal 

form).  

We can see disciplines both in Darwin’s time and the current era which adhere to such 

idealism and shun the transmutive changes proposed by On the Origins of Species. Such 

debates permeate culture through religious and societal values. However, the lasting 

revolution of world-view, that Darwin has created, is not in the acceptance of change, 

necessarily, but is in the idea of change.   

That is, in a post-Darwinian society, the Western world can no long simply accept 

essentialism. In order to uphold essentialism and denounce Darwinism, the Western world 

has to: 1) acknowledge that change is believed by some, 2) muster evidence that change is 

impossible and 3) conclude the Darwin is in error. This is an extremely different world-view 

than merely accepting essentialism.  

The language in the previous statements is quite deliberate. Acknowledgement is crucial; 

otherwise an argument cannot be had. Evidence is needed; otherwise the argument is lost. 

Once the essentialist acknowledges that some believe in change and has gathered evidence 

against change, s/he must prove that change is impossible. If s/he cannot prove change is 

impossible, then change is possible – quite the “slippery slope” to probable and likely. Finally, 

the essentialist must prove Darwinism is in error. The word evolution need not be used here, 

again deliberate. Darwinism is subtly different from evolution, in that it bears a philosophical 

connotation (such as Platonism or Marxism).   

And for the essentialist it is a fundamental difference in philosophy that forbids him or her 

from accepting Darwinism, not a scientific differing.   

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Either accepting Darwinism and/or evolution or denouncing Darwin, the hypotheses of On 

the Origins of Species, have had sweeping effects on modern society and modern world-

views. “The question is therefore legitimate as to what role evolution and Darwinism play in 

modern thought. It is perhaps fair to state at the outset that no well-informed biologist doubts 

evolution… …[and] the vast majority of well-informed lay people accept evolution as readily 

as the fact that the earth circles the sun and not the reverse. Whatever opposition to evolution 

survives is restricted to… …fundamentalist sects” (Mayr, 625). “A rational debate between 

scientists and fundamentalists is impossible because one camp rejects supernatural revelation, 

the other camp scientific fact” (Mayr, 626).  

As a world-view or as a scientific mechanism, Darwinism affects all aspects of the human 

species. “In the initial pages of [Darwin’s] first transmutation notebook (Notebook B), he 

observed that even mind & instinct become influenced as the result of adaptation to new 

circumstances” (Mayr, 92).Darwin proposed that over long periods of time, the human mind, 

morals and emotions had progressively developed out of animal origins.  

A multitude of theorists have furthered this idea. Darwinism, as applied to the human being, 

allowed Herbert Spencerto develop Social Darwinism.  Joseph A. Schumpeter’s the Theory 

of Economic Development was the forerunner of evolutionary economics. The works: 

Sociobiology: The New Synthesis by Edward O. Wilson and the Selfish Gene by Richard 

Dawkins are seminal in the joining of Darwinism with psychology, philosophy and 

sociobiology. In this light, human behavior and the human psyche can be seen, as Darwin had 

imagined, as adaptations and environmentally selected.     

Psychological characteristics of the human being, including: memory, perception and 

language, are now viewed as evolutionary adaptations no different from other physical 

adaptations such as walking upright or using tools. If behavior and communication can be 

viewed as results of Darwinism, other disciplines can also find their origins in evolution. 

Psychology, sociology, economics, sociobiology, anthropology, philosophy, morals, and 

ethics are among the multitude of disciplines which describe facets of the human being.   

No one discipline has sole reign over the nature of humanity, nor does any one discipline 

seem to be untouched by the theories of Darwin. At some point, each of these fields can either 

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directly see the impacts of evolution on the human being or can indirectly use Darwinism to 

explain how the human being behaves.   

The hard and soft sciences are no longer the only fields which can use Darwin’s mechanism 

and evolution. Once the human mind and human behavior can in some sense be reduced to 

evolution, then all products of the human can be reduced to evolution. In order to avoid, 

oversimplifying the complex processes which formulate culture and society, this discourse 

merely argues that culture and society are products of evolution. This is not to say that culture 

and society are only products of evolution, but that evolution played a role (and somewhat 

significant role) in their formation.   

Darwinism can thus be applied to three specific realms of the human social construct: 1) the 

capability to symbolically think and social learning which is used primarily to transmit 

knowledge, beliefs and behaviors, 2) the set of attitudes, values and practices shared by a 

specific group, and 3) the appreciation of aesthetics and the tastes of a specific group. In short, 

these three criteria comprise culture and the disciplines of the humanities. Darwinism is no 

longer remitted to the sciences alone, but music, language, literature, history and the visual 

arts (as products of the human social construct and human behavior) can now be viewed 

within the Darwinist framework.   

This is the legacy of Darwin’s theory and its application to the modern, world- 

view.    

Evidential Support  

Evolutionary Theory  

Darwin illustrates a great many examples and justifications for “evolution by means of natural 

selection” (Darwin, 99). Darwin refutes ideas like those of Lamarck’s in which animals 

respond to their environment, develop a physical trait and then are able to pass it on to their 

offspring. Instead of this mode, it is the fight – the competition which creates fitness and 

natural selection.  All life forms thus undergo this same process:   

1. Organisms of a species produce more offspring than can grow to adulthood. 

Organisms of this species will continue to produce offspring until they themselves are unable 

to (death being the chief reason).  

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2. However, even though organisms continue to produce great numbers of offspring, 

populations remain approximately constant. There are little fluctuations in natural population 

sizes.   

3. Organisms within a species mate within their species. If populations remain constant, 

mating must be limited. Mating resources within a species are therefore highly sought after.  

4. Likewise, food resources are limited and also stay approximately constant. Constant 

populations of organisms must compete for the same, limited food resources.  

5. Competition creates a struggle for survival. Organisms must struggle with members 

of their own species in order to obtain food resources and to obtain rights/opportunities for 

mating.   

6. No two individual organisms of a species are identical. There is variation within every 

species – although less variation in members of the same species as with members from 

differing species.   

7. Variation is inheritable as illustrated by artificial selection. Domestication is the 

isolation of variations that are favorable for man’s usage. If man is capable of such isolation, 

nature is certainly capable of the same.   

8. Some variants in a species will be more favorable than others. Like domesticated 

organisms (whose variations are deemed more fit by man’s needs), wild organisms will 

express variations which are better modes of fitness based on resources, environment and 

circumstance.   

9. Those organisms with superior traits and are better suited for the environment will 

gain an upper-hand in obtaining food resources and mating resources. These organisms will 

breed, where those organisms with variations which are less suited for the environment will 

not breed.   

10. Those organisms which breed pass down traits to their offspring. Again, this can be 

seen in domesticated animals as this is the process of domestication. Inheriting traits from 

parent organisms is how a species is manipulated for man’s use. Likewise, nature is able to 

manipulate a species phenotype to suit the environment.   

11. Surviving organisms which breed and obtain food resources continue to produce 

offspring while less-fit organisms die out.   

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12. Over great periods of time, populations continue to adapt to their environment. They 

slowly and gradually evolve in response to the environment. Each generation gaining slightly 

better traits and passing these traits on to their offspring. Accumulating these traits over time 

allows for the development of new species.   

13. This is evolution by natural selection.     (summarized from Darwin, Chap 2 – 5)  

Although Darwin was trying to explain the diversification and development of life through 

transmutation, his work, itself, was also a catalyst of transmutation – a world-view shift of 

society as a whole. Any discipline, post-Darwinian thought, must address the idea of change. 

In a Kuhnian framework, change can be organized through paradigms.   

If Kuhn’s paradigms are not actual constructs, but simply theoretical arguments used to 

describe change, it is irrelevant to the materialist worldview. But furthermore, understanding 

the origin of art as a biological function, can be represented like Kuhn’s succession of 

revolutions and paradigms. Visual art can be seen as progressive, from step and development 

to step and development. And just as so many of our cultural and sociological paradigms can 

follow Kuhn’s map, so can art as purely biological (the ultimate expression of materialism).  

Art is an evolutionary adaptation.   

Primitive Ancestry  

Although experts disagree, the oldest primate ancestor may be Purgatorius, a small, lemur-

like, insectivorous animal from the late Cretaceous period (approximately 65 million years 

ago). By the Eocene Epoch (54 million to 33 million years ago) the ancestors of tarsiers 

(Tarsiidae), the ancestors of lemurs and lorises (Adapidae) and the ancestors of monkeys and 

apes (Omomyidae) had evolved.   

These groups would eventually evolve to include the approximately 350 different primate 

extant species, including the prosimians, monkeys and apes.  As a group, primates are 

incredibly successful, demonstrate a high amount of adaptive diversity and have colonized 

the tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Africa and Asia. Although the 350 

species differ, there are common anatomical adaptations which have helped the Order succeed 

(Elton. 283 - 309).  

Of the primate characteristics, there are five key sets of adaptations, which originally played 

in a role in survival, but have subsequently allowed for the development of art. These include: 

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1) spatial and depth perception, 2) high degrees of movement, dexterous hands and sensitive 

fingers, 3) stereoscopic and color vision and visual acuity,  4) extremely enlarged brain 

equipped with: sensory processing, nervous integration, enlarged cerebral cortex, and brain 

tissues arranged in folds and fissures, and 5) highly social societies consisting of hierarchies, 

pair-bonding and paternal care (Elton, 283).  

Originally each of these five sets of adaptations was specifically developed for either: 1) food 

gathering or 2) mating, the two primary functions of any living organism. However they 

eventually became integral to the creation of art (without any one of the above adaptations, 

art as we know it, could not be). Each of the five sets of adaptations listed above was integral 

to the primate order’s success and survival. Below, Table 1.1 illustrates the primary 

evolutionary advantages and purposes for each of the five sets of adaptations (Spuhler, 509 – 

561).   

Table 1.1: Primary Functions of Primate Adaptations  

spatial and depth 

perception  

ability to see dimensions, judge distance and view space; 

vital for an arboreal animal required to leap branches, 

ascend/descend trees quickly and view the forest canopy  

high degrees of arm 

movement, dexterous 

hands and sensitive 

fingers  

ability to manipulate and use the environment, as well as 

grooming; vital for both a foraging animal (aids in food 

gathering) and a social animal (grooming creates bonds and 

aids in establishing hierarchies)   

stereoscopic and color 

vision and visual 

acuity  

ability to see viable food sources and judge quality; vital for 

animals which rely on fruit as a primary source of 

nourishment (to this day, most primates find the deepest 

shades of purple unappetizing, most likely linked to rotting 

fruit)  

extremely enlarged 

brain: enlarged 

cerebral cortex and 

ability to understand what the hands are doing, connect 

senses, communicate threats, make decisions, relate to 

others, express emotions; integral to sensory processing and 

nervous integration; fissures and folds maximize brain 

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brain tissues arranged 

in folds and fissures  

surface area without placing a higher demand on skull size 

for the enlarged brain  

highly social societies 

consisting of 

hierarchies, pair-

bonding and paternal 

care  

ability to learn from past generations, communicate with 

others and understand the environment; integral to the 

development of social groupings, hierarchies, sharing food, 

warning members of danger and creating communication  

These primary functions of primate adaptations eventually allowed for secondary functions, 

which in turn allowed for the development of the three specific realms of human culture (and 

the visual arts): 1) the capability to symbolically think and social learning which is used 

primarily to transmit knowledge, beliefs and behaviors, 2) the set of attitudes, values and 

practices shared by a specific group, and 3) the appreciation of aesthetics and the tastes of a 

specific group.  

A parallel can be drawn to insect flight. “Insects owe much of their extraordinary evolutionary 

success to flight. Compared with their flightless ancestors, flying insects are better equipped 

to evade predators, search food sources and colonize new habitats. Because their survival and 

evolution depend so crucially on flight performance, it is hardly surprising that the flight-

related sensory, physiological, behavioral and biomechanical traits of insects are among the 

most compelling illustrations of adaptations found in nature” (Sane, 4191).  

The insect wing is thought to have evolved from moveable abdominal gills as found on 

mayfly juveniles. These gills, filled with nerve endings and veins, may have been used to: 1) 

sail along the surface of water, 2) as a form of temperature regulation and/or 3) to actively 

push water over the gill while in still water. As these gills became larger they functioned 

much like a sail, carrying the insect to other locations. Over time sailing became gliding and 

gliding became flying. All of these movements were an advantage to the insect, allowing it 

to migrate greater distances and evade predators (Sane, 4196).  

Like insect flight, which was originally a function of temperature regulation or breathing, the 

adaptations for primate art were originally a means of foraging and communication. The 

spontaneous generation of Picasso did not happen, but instead he is a culmination of millions 

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of years of adaptations. So by inference of the above insect model and the original five 

primate adaptations used for survival; this second Table 1.2 (as seen below) illustrates how 

the primary adaptations can be used in the secondary, cultural purposes.   

Table 1.2: Secondary Functions of Primate Adaptations  

spatial and depth perception  ability to see and use perspective, proportion and 

dimension  to create representations of the world 

and its objects   

high degrees of arm movement,  

dexterous hands and sensitive 

fingers  

ability to use tools for mark-making, control mark- 

placement and develop strong eye-hand-

coordination   

stereoscopic and color vision 

and  visual acuity  

ability to use the elements of design: color, texture, 

line, shape 

extremely enlarged brain: 

enlarged  cerebral cortex and 

brain tissues  arranged in folds 

and fissures  

ability to use the principles of design: contrast, 

emphasis,  movement, balance, unity, pattern and 

rhythm based on  structuring the above elements 

of design in meaningful ways  by using 

conceptualization, imagination and appreciation   

highly social societies 

consisting  of hierarchies, pair-

bonding and  paternal care  

ability to use art as a communicative tool through 

the use of  symbols, artistic voice, and 

representations; ability to share  these uses and 

teach younger generations how to be  successful 

artists     

It is from the original five sets of adaptations that these secondary functions are possible. 

Evidence for this lies not only in the evolution of our own species, but extinct species most 

closely related to us.   

Further, evidence lies in our closest ancestors. Approximately, three million years ago, an 

Australopithecus africanus noticed a peculiarly shaped jasperite stone. It was water worn and 

cracked, a reddish-brown hue, and approximately two-and-threeeighths of inch wide. 

Australopithecus africanus, an ancient and extinct relative of the human species, is thought 

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to have had many ape-like and human-like characteristics (Kleiner, 2). Like other 

australopithecines, s/he was bipedal but Australopithecus africanus had a slightly larger brain 

than Australopithecus afarensis and more humanoid facial features.  This particular 

Australopithecus africanus carried the peculiarly shaped jasperite stone for twenty miles. The 

immediate question is: why would this Australopithecus africanus carry a random pebble 

from a riverbed to his/her cave dwelling? (Kleiner, 2 – 3).  

In 1925 Raymond Dart discovered the peculiar pebble with the fossil remains of the 

Australopithecus africanus in the Makapansgat cave dwelling. It was immediately speculated, 

by Dart, that the Australopithecus africanus who had found the Makapansgat Pebble had kept 

it because of its “uncanny resemblance to a human face.” The implication of such a find is 

that Australopithecus africanus, and perhaps other australopithecines, was capable of 

symbolical thinking and had developed an aesthetic appreciation (Kleiner, 3).  

The discovery of the Makapansgat Pebble is uniquely important for two reasons: 1) it is direct 

evidence that the origin of art may have been an evolutionary process and 2) that symbolic 

thought and aesthetic appreciation may have been evolutionary adaptations. The 

Makapansgat Pebble predates the first examples of art by millions of years. This means that 

the Makapansgat Pebble may in fact be a step in the evolutionary progression of symbolic 

thought and aesthetic appreciation; both in themselves adaptations and stages in the origins 

of art. This can be concluded based on the fact that the australopithecines were in fact human 

ancestors (or close relatives) and the adaptations they would have evolved would have been 

past into our own gene-pool.   

The first citing of true art doesn’t happen until 30,000 BCE: cave-paintings found in Lascaux, 

France, stone fetishes found in Willendorf, Austria and mammothivory carvings found in 

Hohlenstein-Stadel, Germany are but some examples of the “artistic explosion” occurring 

around 30,000 BCE. This remarkable time-period showcases some of the earliest humans’ 

artworks which unlike the Makapansgat Pebble, show an actual manipulation of the 

environment with purpose. Cave murals depict prey animals and hunts, fetishes depict women 

with engorged breasts and hips, ivory icons depict feline-headed humans, and carvings depict 

shamans with caribou antlers – all examples of symbolic thinking.    

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There certainly is a gap between these works and the Makapansgat Pebble. If the cave-

paintings and stone-fetishes represent the culmination of millions of years of symbolic 

thinking and aesthetic appreciation, then the Makapansgat Pebble represents the starting place 

for that three million year progression. There is an artistic link between our most ancient 

ancestors and cousins with our more closely related CroMagnons, whom responsible for the 

Lascaux cave-paintings and the Willendorf fetishes. Cro-Magnon peoples moved into Europe 

and replaced the Neanderthals, ushering in a culture that was no longer comprised merely of 

tool-makers but of artists. Cro-Magnon developed true art, and three million years prior 

australopithecines developed the appreciation for the beautiful and/or important. Why did 

such time pass between the Makapansgat Pebble and the creation of the Willendorf fetishes? 

Perhaps it three-million years is the precise amount of time it takes to move from the step of 

appreciation to the step of creation (Kleiner, 5 – 9).  

If we think of art as evolving, it is quite plausible that aesthetic appreciation stayed constant 

for millions of years and was punctuated 32,000 years ago by a quick revolution of artistic 

discovery and creation. This also fits the Kuhnian model, of a lengthy period of the paradigm 

intact and then a period of crisis sending aesthetic appreciation into paradigm shift. The two 

paradigms then being: merely the act of appreciation becoming or being replaced by the act 

of manipulation. This is consistent with the findings, as there seems to be a moment in history 

when our ancestors became compelled to take control of the process as opposed to being 

passive partakers. From 30,000 BCE onward, there was a “powerful outburst of artistic 

creativity” (Kleiner, 9).  Across the world, the descendants of Cro-Magnon would litter the 

caves, the hills and the rocks with symbols, pictographs, drawings and carvings. Was this no 

less of a revolution than Copernicus claiming the sun was the center of the solar system or 

Einstein questioning the proven Newtonian laws of physics? Was the Makapansgat Pebble 

the catalyst for such a Kuhnian revolution?   

The Makapansgat Pebble cannot be called a fetish or sculpture because the facial impression 

was created by natural erosion, not by deliberate work of the Australopithecus africanus who 

had found it. But what it does represent is the ability to perceive something more than just the 

environment, as is. Australopithecus africanus was able to create a meaning – however base 

or simplistic that meaning was – around an object, that otherwise had no use. The 

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Makapansgat Pebble could not be used as a tool for gathering food and was too insignificant 

to be used as a weapon – but what it could be used for was that it could be appreciated. And 

the act of appreciation is considered one of the formal steps in creating art.   

In order for our ancestors to think symbolically and develop aesthetic appreciation, a variety 

of evolutionary adaptations were necessary. Return, to our most primitive ancestors, and 

therein you will find the groundwork laid. The evolutionary adaptations undertaken by 

Purgatorius would allow for secondary adaptations necessary for Australopithecus africanus 

to begin the steps of art appreciation. Eventually, that appreciation would become 

manipulation. Examples of this, can be  

The Human Animal  

British artist, Desmond Morris, was at one time the Curator of Mammals at the London Zoo, 

after he was awarded a D.Phil. from Oxford University for his doctoral thesis on the 

Reproductive Behavior of the Ten-Spined Stickleback. He left the zoo in 1966 to pursue a 

career as a surrealist painter and author.   

Morris’ work, the Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal, is in partial a result 

of his studies at the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford and his work with the London 

Zoo primates. The Naked Ape focuses on humanity’s relationship with other primates and our 

striking similarities to the other great apes.  

“There are 193 living species of monkeys and apes. 192 of them are covered with hair. The 

exception is a naked ape self-named Homo sapiens. This unusual and highly successful 

species spends a great deal of time examining his higher motives and an equal amount of time 

studiously ignoring his fundamental ones. He is proud that he has the biggest brain of all the 

primates, but attempts to conceal the fact that he also has the biggest penis, preferring to 

accord this honor falsely to the mighty gorilla. He is an intensely vocal, acutely exploratory, 

over-crowded ape, and it is high time we examined his basic behavior” (Morris, 9).  

As a professional zoologist, Morris wrote the Naked Ape for laypeople, making the biology 

and behavior of humans more accessible. Morris simplifies human behavior and habits to the 

most fundamental animal instincts. No subject is left untouched, including science and 

religion. "At first sight, it is surprising that religion has been so successful, but its extreme 

potency is simply a measure of the strength of our fundamental biological tendency, inherited 

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directly from our monkey and ape ancestors, to submit ourselves to an all-powerful, dominant 

member of the group" (Morris, 121).  Morris draws correlation between groups of humans, 

submitting, kneeling, closing their eyes, prostrating themselves, chanting and begging the 

most dominant member of the tribe – the one they call god. Morris speculates that this 

allpowerful being may have in fact been a super-dominant and successful member of our 

ancestor’s tribe.   

Religion and science are not the only disciplines that Morris establishes an evolutionary 

origin. Morris believes art, too, can find its origins in our primitive ancestors – as evidenced 

by Congo the Chimpanzee.  One of Congo’s earlier compositions, Morris described as “lyrical 

abstract impressionism” (Morris,124).   

At the age of two, Congo grabbed hold of his first pencil and began making marks on paper. 

Congo had an innate sense of composition – creating circles and balancing his drawings 

without training.   

Morris pushed the chimpanzee, testing his artistic sense: Morris would draw on Congo’s 

pictures, forcing the chimpanzee to draw more shapes to achieve balance, Morris would take 

paintings away from Congo before he was finished sending the chimpanzee into a fitted rage 

filled with tantrums and Morris would try to coax Congo to continue painting, thought the 

chimpanzee would refuse when he felt he was finished. Congo displayed personal tastes, often 

choosing reds to complete his paintings.   

Though chimpanzees, like Congo, are not our ancestors, we do share a common ancestor. It 

is estimated that between five and eight million years ago our common ancestor diverged into 

the two lines which would ultimately become the modern day chimpanzee and bonobo, and 

we humans (Elton, 3).  

It is by studying modern day relatives, that many primatologists hope to glean a better 

understanding of our more primitive ancestors. Traits common to all primates could result 

from two plausible scenarios: 1) convergent evolution in that both species developed similar 

traits coincidentally (ie. bats and pterodactyls both evolving wings from their finger-bones 

and being able to fly) or 2) sharing a common ancestor, as chimpanzees and humans do, which 

evolved that trait and past it on to the subsequent species. When concerning primates, the 

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latter of these possibilities is typically more likely, as the extant groups of primates are more 

closely related to one another than to extinct groups.  

Behaviorism from Modern Theorists  

Like Desmond Morris, Alison Jolly studies a modern day primate in order to better understand 

human evolution. Though she attempts to dig far deeper into the primate past, by studying a 

far-removed group from the human ape. Alison Jolly began studying lemur behavior at 

Berenty in 1963-64, and has for the past two decades returned to Madagascar every fall for 

the birthing season. She focused primarily on the demographics of ringtailed lemurs and 

studied particularly their intertroop and territorial behavior (Lucy, 1 – 4).  

Her studies have confirmed that primates have the capacity to deceive in order to obtain food. 

Like lemurs, capuchin monkeys also demonstrate this behavior.   

A capuchin, lowest in the hierarchy wishes to steal the food of its higher brethren: In order to 

do so, the capuchin will call out the vocalization warning for “snake” and watch its brethren 

retreat to the trees. As they do, the lowest capuchin will gather the dropped the food and 

quickly consume it before being caught (Lucy, 149).  

Alison Jolly explains these behaviors displayed by capuchins and lemurs as a result of 

intelligence evolution. “Primate society preceded the growth of primate intelligence, [making 

intelligence] possible, and determining its nature” (Lemur, 495).  Jolly argues that primate 

societies and social instincts, led to the need for communication and thus, evolved intelligence 

(as a capacity for communication). She cites deception, social structures, vocalizations and 

“language” as all indications of social intelligence. Because lesser, more primitive primates, 

such as lemurs display such social traits, though do not have the hand dexterity nor display 

the complex tool usage of their higher counterparts, the monkeys and apes, it is likely that 

social structures evolved before the faculties of intelligence.  

Jolly, like Morris, applies her research of primates and primate intelligence to the evolution 

of humanity. In her book Lucy's Legacy: Sex and Intelligence in Human Evolution, she 

emphasizes a different “evolutionary story” than is commonly accepted. Unlike traditional 

Darwinian views of humanity’s struggle, Jolly emphasizes cooperation and social networks 

as opposed to violent, selfish, competitive struggles (Lucy, 212 – 216). Jolly describes the 

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evolution of intelligence through the social structure of early humans (or even more remote 

ancestors, like the australopithecines like Lucy).   

Lucy was an Australopithecus afarensis, discovered in Ethiopia by Donald Johanson (Lucy, 

357). The three million year old fossil, discovered in 1973, was named after the famous 

Beatles song (popular at the time). Like the australopithecine that found the Makapansgat 

Pebble, Lucy is thought to be either an ancestor or cousin to Homo sapiens.   

Jolly speculates that Lucy and other australopithecines lived in cooperative groups that shared 

food, migrated with one another and developed links between generations. Like the lemurs 

Jolly studied in Madagascar, it is likely that the australopithecines would have needed to 

develop greater verbal capacities in order to communicate with one another in the social 

grouping (Lucy, 180).  

Natural selection would have worked differently in these early human tribes. Creative mating 

practices would have outranked mere competition and fighting for mates. Those 

australopithecines that could show higher intelligence, higher creativity and higher 

communicative skills would have been more desirable.   

There are three different reasons this may have been true: 1) communication helped pass 

information which would have lead certain australopithecines to be better at finding food and 

water, 2) australopithecines who had the “time to waste” on such things as communication 

and symbolic thinking were not preoccupied with foraging and perhaps displayed better 

constitution and health, and/or 3) cooperating with friends and allies to outsmart rivals 

(Lucy,210).   

Jolly proposes that some of the earliest forms of “wooing” the affections of mates may have 

included: endearments for desired individuals, insults for enemies, remembering which foods 

were safe and which ones were not, being able to perform comedy or music, feeling jealousy 

and developing ways to steal a desired mate or trick a rival, and deception (Lucy, 106, 297). 

For Jolly, the struggle for survival of the fittest was not in speed or strength, but in wits – 

which mind was creative and ingenious (Lucy, 10).  

This mate-driven development of intelligence could have perhaps contributed to the 

development of art. Denis Dutton, an art professor in New Zealand, builds on this idea in the 

Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution.  Like Jolly, Dutton believes that the 

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adaptation of intelligence and interdependence helped our ancestors pick winning mates 

(Dutton, 45). Dutton lists a set of behavioral adaptations which lead to better chances of 

mating: being good at sex, understanding facial expressions, using logic, being able to acquire 

language, and appreciating beauty (Dutton, 31, 56). For Dutton these traits had a primary 

function in survival, but ultimately lead to a secondary function in art.   

As illustrated in previous sections, these primary adaptations once used for a singular purpose, 

could be later applied to new situations. Face to face copulation forces the couple to look at 

one another while being intimate. By looking at one another, there is a greater chance of being 

aware of the other’s feelings during the act of sex (Dutton, 100). This brings new meaning to 

sex as opposed to being a simple act of procreation. Understanding the other’s facial 

expressions (especially during this intimate act) is crucial to connecting – something also 

crucial for a social species.   

Furthermore, the use of meaning and reasoning are functions of logic and problem solving. 

All of which leads to the use of symbols and language (Dutton, 161 – 163). So for Dutton – 

this expression of one biological need links too many other needs and intellectual stimulus.   

As Jolly argues that our intelligence and social structure were functions of Darwinian 

selection, Dutton argues that art and aesthetic appreciation are functions of evolution. 

Furthermore, Dutton speculates that the creation of art can be a useful trait in seducing a mate. 

Modern humans joke, sing, tell stories, play games, give gifts and create tokens of affection 

in order to woo a mate. Dutton argues that the same was true for our distant ancestors (Dutton, 

218).  

The act of creating a piece of artwork requires skill. Often our primitive ancestors found a 

stone or piece of ivory to create their piece of art out of – and this material was precious. 

Using a unique skill combined with a precious item, the person was able to create something 

that others could not. For Dutton, this skill was not only valuable but desirable. Dutton does 

not necessarily explain why humans appreciate beautiful things or have a sense of aesthetic, 

but argues that because we have one there must have been an evolutionary advantage (Dutton, 

87).  

Dutton goes on to claim that humans are genetically predispositioned to appreciate landscapes 

– and not just any landscape, but those that depict a piece of grassland, near a water source 

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and accompanied by a few sparse trees. It is not a cultural taste preference, but inherited 

fondness for savannah-type landscapes (Dutton, 21 – 23). It is not some socially constructed 

enculturation which gives us our tastes, or our art appreciation. Aesthetics is a taste shaped 

by natural selection. The human draw to art and beauty is innate. Furthermore, cross-

culturally there is a universal appreciation for landscapes – especially those most similar to 

those oases sought most by our ancient and primitive ancestors (Dutton, 14).  

For Dutton, art criticism and the appreciation of the aesthetic has little to do with abstract 

theory, noumenal philosophies, or premises of phenomenology. Rather, art criticism has more 

in common with evolutionary biology, than any other discipline.  

In his seminal work, Dutton build the “Savannah Hypothesis” using such a methodology. He 

claims that humans have a fondness for certain land types as they tend to support human life. 

These lands should include: “open spaces of low (or mown) grasses, interspersed with thickets 

of bushes and groupings of trees; presence of water directly in view, or evidence of water 

nearby or in the distance; an openingup in at least one direction to an unimpeded  vantage on 

the horizon; evidence of animal and bird life; and diversity of greenery, including flowering 

and fruiting plants” (Dutton, 25). This is not just a vague preference, but it happens to describe 

the African savannahs that our ancestors most likely evolved in.   

Dutton claims, though over millions of years humans left the African savannah to new lands, 

we are still emotionally connected to those landscapes. As such, humans from every culture, 

in every time period, across the planet tend to depict similar landscapes in their art. This 

commonality across cultural lines seems to imply that somewhere in our ancient lineage this 

preference was adopted.  

Analysis of the Premise  

Interpretation of the Premise  

The primary adaptations Dutton identifies which benefit choice of mating and were once used 

for a singular purpose, could be later applied to new situations. One of the premier advantages 

selected for in human evolution was the imagination and language capacity. “Creative 

storytelling – perhaps the oldest of the arts – is found throughout history and, like language 

itself, is spontaneously devised and understood by human beings everywhere,” (Dutton, 8). 

“Universal themes of love, death, adventure, family conflict, justice and overcoming 

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adversity” surface in stories and images cross-culturally, and form the archetypal repertoire 

of the imaginative species (Dutton, 8).   

Dutton justifies his evolutionary model of art through: “the universality of art and artistic 

behaviors, their spontaneous appearance everywhere across the globe and through recorded 

human history, and the fact that in most cases they can be easily recognized artistic across 

cultures suggest they derive from a natural, innate source: a universal human psychology,” 

(Dutton, 32). One such universality is the symbol and its first incarnation, artistic expression 

– both tied intimately to human nature (Dutton, 33).   

“Human beings are born image-makers and image-enjoyers” (Dutton, 35). If this is the case, 

then a natural question arises: is “every universal human behavior pattern disposition an 

adaptation or the result of adaptations?” (Dutton, 43). Humans have evolved faculties which 

allow for: intuitive physics, tool-making, personal psychology and the sense of self/otherness, 

intuitive sense of space, intuitive sense of numbers, understanding of probability, precision 

in movement, a sense of logic and an ability to read facial expressions, among others, (Dutton,  

46 – 47).   

Here Dutton is not suggesting a Freudian explanation for the creation of art, rather he is 

claiming that use of symbols, developments of language, and the creation of art are products 

of what Jolly calls the social intelligence and technical intelligence. Through the altruistic 

sharing of products created using socially and technically intelligent skills, mates became 

more desirable.   

The Darwinian criterion for a successful species or member of that species is its ability to 

mate – those that mate pass on their DNA and thus are successful. For our earliest ancestors, 

mate-choosing was intertwined with art because on a subconscious level, art implied higher 

social and technical intelligence. The mistake of associating intelligence with fitness should 

not be made – evolution does not choose for progression of intelligence. Rather, at a particular 

time in human evolution social and technical intelligence were as strong of adaptations as 

large tusks, sharp fangs or thick hides. “Sexual selection explains the will of human beings to 

charm and interest each other,” (Dutton, 163).  

At this time, charm and skill were as or more desirable than size, strength and aggression. 

One way in which our ancestors were successful at charming one another was offering an 

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object of art; even though “the arts squander brain power, physical effort, time and precious 

resources” which is counterintuitive to natural selection which favors economy and efficiency 

(Dutton, 136). The brain is a selfish organ – so selfish to run it requires incredible power and 

large quantities of protein. In fact, it is possible that such protein-needs may have caused our 

ancestors to change from a vegetarian diet to a carnivorous one. As the brain sucks resources, 

it constantly craves more in order to operate with more complexity. And one of the operations 

it desires most is information – the brain seeks stimulus. So although symbolic thinking and 

beauty appreciation is far less useful an adaptation, then say redirecting resources in order to 

develop fangs or claws, it does feed the brain its cravings. A byproduct of intelligence 

evolution is stimulus need.   

Humans place a high priority on mental fitness – “on the serious question of choosing a mate, 

men and women on average place kindness first on their respective with both naming 

intelligence as number two,” (Dutton, 151). It is this fact which creates such a demand for 

communicative ability. The greater vocabulary creates a greater amount of communication 

and a greater repertoire of thoughts to be communicated, thus demonstrating higher 

intelligence. Contemporary English speakers have at their disposal an “excess vocabulary of 

sixty-thousand-plus words” which is directly proportionate to the “evolutionary function of 

language [which] is not only a means of efficient communication but a signal of fitness and 

general intelligence” (Dutton, 153).   

Intelligence, knowledge and information have replaced size, strength and brutality in human 

natural selection. This fact has lead Dutton to speculate that the human animal has undergone 

self-domestication. “Every direct prehistoric ancestor of every person alive today at times 

faced critical survival choices: whether to run or hold ground against a predator, which road 

to take toward a green valley, etc.” yet their most important choice was “whether to choose 

this man or woman as a mate with whom to rear children and share a life of mutual support,” 

(Dutton, 164 – 165).  

Assessment of the Premise  

Expression is a way of looking at the world, art is a reflection of that expression. The creation 

and aesthetic of art is: understanding and relating social issues and events; understanding 

emotions, developing emotional intelligences, and developing empathy and sympathy; 

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communicating ideas visually, sensuously, emotionally, and intuitively; and deeply 

challenging ourselves.  

Dr. Betty Edwards, Professor of Art at California State University, is perhaps one of the most 

famous researchers in the area of creativity. In her seminal work, Drawing on the Artist 

Within, Edwards quotes Albert Rothenberg saying: “The problem of creativity is beset with 

mysticism, confused definitions, value judgments, psychoanalytic admonitions, and the 

crushing weight of philosophical speculation dating from ancient times” (Edwards, 7). In lieu 

of such statements, it would seem impossible to come to a conclusive definition of what 

creativity is.   

For Edwards, creativity is “the force that drives problem-solving, informs effective decision-

making, and opens new frontiers for ambition and intelligence.” Like Dutton, Edwards 

believes the creative drive is innate. It is a Darwinian, Freudian force contained within 

everyone. Furthermore, Edwards argues that every single person can be taught to be artistic, 

that it is not a skill reserved for a special, gifted few. This would also support Dutton’s 

premise, which in turn supports the materialistic, biological origin of art and aesthetic.   

The act of creation is willful but also cognitive. When one engages in creation or creativity, 

that person is doing two things: experiencing the aesthetic and learning. Explaining how 

animals evolve or how galaxies move; painting a landscape; writing a sonnet; or solving an 

impossible equation – all of these are acts of creation and are creative. But more so, they tell 

a story – each of these activities communicates meaning. This is how creativity relates to 

learning – it is a willful act of understanding and examining the nature of things.   

Inherent in all of these skills, is the ability to “look.” Edwards claims that there are two main 

components to creativity: 1) looking at problems in new, innovative ways and 2) focusing on 

connections that might not be apparent (Edwards, 12 – 17). “This special way of seeing 

includes the ability to see a whole field while at the same time perceiving parts within the 

field in relationship to each other as well as the whole…” (Edwards, 34).   

There is an undeniable link between the way we think and the ways we use creativity. We are 

conditioned to use words and numbers to express concepts. Yet, expressing something 

visually can sometimes open new doors and opportunities. Creativity is a form of problem 

solving that requires thinking in a different language – a visual language. This visual language 

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can be observational and perceptual, meaning it is carried out by physical acts like: seeing, 

studying, drawing etc. or it can be conceptual meaning it is carried out in the “mind’s-eye” 

and through visualization.  

Edwards is a major proponent of this vision of creativity, based on her years of teaching and 

her studies of the artistic process.   

Edwards says, “Drawings, like words, have meaning – often beyond the power of words to 

express, but nonetheless invaluable in making the chaos of our sensory impressions 

comprehensible,” (Edwards, 2). For Edwards, creativity and art are behaviors of looking at 

problems in new, innovative ways and focusing on connections that might not be apparent.  

Again, I am reminded of Dutton and his explanation of an intelligence selection for primates. 

Jolly, Morris and Dutton all celebrate the primate’s development of communication as 

integral to its survival. Art is simply another extension of this communicative ability.   

For Edwards, creativity requires intense study, practical application of theory and 

methodology, and a philosophical basis. She claims that creative success is based on: training 

in observation and seeing, practicing methods and techniques, and developing ways to 

represent the world through models (not unlike scientific models or equations).   

Creativity is about the thinking process and education, for instance: no college student would 

accept an Introductory French Course in which the instructor expected students to speak 

French on the first day and those students who had no “talent” (or prior knowledge of French) 

were unable to continue in the course. Creativity and perceptual skills are no different than 

arithmetic or language skills, they must be introduced, studied and practiced. No one is born 

creative (Edwards, 5).  

“The right half of the brain functions in a nonverbal manner, specializing in visual, spatial, 

perceptual information” (Edwards, 91). The 20th century placed special emphasis on left-

brain thinking – logic, rationale, sequencing etc. The process of creativity is a conscious, 

deliberate effort that must be decided in the right-brain. Edwards says “creative solutions 

come more easily to a mind prepared with knowledge” (Edwards, 126). When a person is 

saturated with research and resources, ideas sort of spring up on their own – Edwards calls 

this “looking around for information” (Edwards, 126).  

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The fact that art can be seen as a form of aesthetic information – something that can be 

transmitted, translated and received, only furthers the hypothesis that creating art is universal. 

By extension it is plausible that appreciating art is also universal.  

Concluding Thoughts  

On the Origins of Art  

The appreciation of beauty corresponded to symbolic thinking and the development of 

language. The development of language allowed for communication and the formation of 

symbols. Symbols, intelligence, religion and culture are functions of human society. At some 

level all extant primates show these characteristics and primatologists now believe that 

primates, other than humans, transmit culture. So too can be said for extinct primates, our 

ancestors and primitive cousins. Thus, we can infer a biological origin of the aesthetic sense. 

A biological origin implies a universality that is built on shared senses of beauty, passed down 

from our ancestors to today.  

Although the validity of the theory of materialism and by extension, evolution, is opposed by 

many camps, it is important to establish that as a model it is very comprehensive. There are 

different versions, but the most widely accepted is the synthesis between natural selection and 

genetics. This means biological changes occur in a class of organisms over time. These 

adaptations are physiological, instinctual, and cultural. For humans, all of these point to why 

we act the way we act and why we think the way we think.   

For decades, arguments concerning the impetus for human evolution have emphasized: the 

increase in brain size, the shift to bipedilism, the use of tools, the organization of tribes and 

even the shift to carnivorous diets from vegetarian. But I think another impetus plays an 

important role: developing meaning.   

For the human species has been and is consistently and constantly in search of descriptions 

of the world: models, symbols, and representations. Through a greater understanding of 

space, time, causality, perception, awareness, and consciousness, humans continue to develop 

systems of knowledge intended on answering fundamental questions about nature. This is the 

true human history – a perpetual seeking of this information to make sense of the seemingly 

nonsensical reality.  

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Just as we maintain an inner drive to eat fatty and sweet foods as an evolutionary adaptation, 

so too, is communication, artistry and creativity.   

Our ancestors lived in vegetation-rich environments, but when it came to proteins and 

complex-sugars, well those were rarities. So when one of our ancestors located a sugary fruit 

or a piece of meat, they devoured it ravenously – even if they were already full. Today, when 

we crave a fast food burger or double-chocolate, chocolate chip cookie it is because 

biologically we need to sustain the need of protein and sugar. This is why we eat beyond 

capacity, because in our prehistoric days such treasures were scarce and needed to be seized 

upon.  

The truth of the aesthetic is perhaps no different. The pleasure of art might be tied to charm 

and choosing mates, it might be tied to the prized landscapes our ancestors sought, or it might 

be tied to our need to communicate and understand – to feed our hungry, cognitive brains.   

Ultimately, physical adaptations, the development of intelligence and the development of 

interdependence lead to the success of the primate order. This success eventually set the 

foundations for the creation of art. As an evolutionary advantage, art became desirable among 

the human ancestors. And thus, the visual arts can trace their lineage along the same biological 

lineages of humanity.  

References   

Marx, Karl. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. New York: International, 1964. 

Print.University of Jena.  

Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of 

Chicago, 1996. Print. University of Chicago.  

Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species. New York: Sterling, 2008. Print.Geological 

Society of London.   

Mayr, Ernst. "The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance 

[Paperback]." The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and 

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Inheritance: Ernst Mayr: 9780674364462: Amazon.com: Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 

Dec. 2013.Harvard University Science Center.  

Elton, Sarah. "Fossils, Hunters, and Controversies: Exploring Primate Evolution." Reviews 

in Anthropology 36.4 (2007): 283-309. Print.Durham University.  

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Michigan.  

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206.December (2003): 4191-208. Print.Department of Biology, University of 

Washington.  

Kleiner, Fred S., Christin J. Mamiya, and Helen Gardner. Gardner's Art through the Ages. 

Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College, 2004. Print.Columbia University.  

Morris, Desmond. The Naked Ape; a Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal. New York: 

McGraw-Hill, 1967. Print.Vice-Chairman of Oxford United F.C.  

Jolly, Alison. Lucy's Legacy: Sex and Intelligence in Human Evolution. Cambridge, MA: 

Harvard UP, 1999. Print.New York Zoological Society, Visiting Scientist at the 

University of Sussex.  

Jolly, A. "Lemur Social Behavior and Primate Intelligence." Science 153.3735 (1966): 501-

06. Print.New York Zoological Society, Visiting Scientist at the University of Sussex.  

Dutton, Dennis. The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution. New York [u.a.: 

Bloomsbury, 2009. Print. University of Michigan–Dearborn.  

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Edwards, Betty. Drawing on the Artist Within: a Guide to Innovation, Invention, Imagination, 

and Creativity. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986. Print.California State 

University, Long Beach.  

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