The Aesthetic Brain

How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art

By: Anjan Chatterjee

Narrated by: Bernard Setaro Clark

The Aesthetic Brain takes the listener on a wide-ranging journey through the world of beauty, pleasure, and art. Chatterjee uses neuroscience to probe how an aesthetic sense is etched in our minds and evolutionary psychology to explain why aesthetic concerns feature centrally in our lives. Along the way, Chatterjee addresses fundamental questions: What is beauty? Is beauty universal? How is beauty related to pleasure? What is art? Should art be beautiful? Do we have an instinct for art? Chatterjee starts by probing the reasons that we find people, places, and even numbers beautiful. At the root of beauty, he finds, is pleasure. He then examines our pleasures by dissecting why we want and why we like food, sex, and money and how these rewards relate to aesthetic encounters. His ruminations on beauty and pleasure prepare him and the listener to face art. He wanders through the problems of defining art, understanding contemporary art, and interpreting ancient art. He explores why art, something that seems so useless, also feels fundamental to our humanity. Replete with facts, anecdotes, and analogies, this empirical guide to aesthetics offers scientific answers without deflating the wonders of beauty and art.

©2014 Oxford University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Unique and Interesting Contemplation of Art

Well read and written. Worth a listen if you are interested in this topic.

I didn’t think neuroscience would have anything valuable to contribute to the discussion of art, but this book offers a unique and insightful perspective on it while maintaining a genuine appreciation for it.

Brains and beauty

Information is great, it was a good deal to get there. From the esthetics of faces and places, through common philosophy of beauty to the Neuroesthetics and some implications. If you did not study psychology or neurology the (like me) , the brainsystems will seem a bit complicated. But it is really worth while to see it through.

Good and understandable

I enjoyed the first half of the book but it seemed to me to get a little off track in some chapters. Still glad i listen to it thougg

A fine contribution

A responsible, sober, up-to-date, and clear take on evolutionary neuroaesthetics, Chatterjee's book navigates the science and the anxiety the science elicits with tact and aplomb.

Glad I got this one!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book. I got it because I've wondered about beauty and aesthetics for years:

"Why are flowers beautiful?"

I haven't finished the book yet, as I began listeting to it yesterday – but can already say it's a wonderful book! It talks about human beauty, baby face bias, fibonacci / golden ratio: aka "right down my alley"!