Issue #53

Abstract: The translation of the scientific article proposes a co-evolutionary theory of aesthetics that embraces both biotic and human art. The author argues that anthropocentric views in aesthetics prevent recognition of the ontological complexity of the aesthetics of nature and the aesthetic agency of many non-human organisms. The process of evaluative coevolution is inherent in all biotic advertising, and suggests that art consists of a form of communication that develops simultaneously with its own evaluation, and art and art history are population phenomena. The author projects Arthur Danto’s Concept of the World of Art onto any aesthetic group of producers and appraisers on the basis that modern concepts of art cannot separate human art from the many non-human biotic art forms.
Without adopting an arbitrarily anthropocentric perspective, any concept of art must take into account biodiversity and either recognize many examples of biotic advertising as art or exclude some examples of human art. Coevolutionary aesthetic theory provides a heuristic account of aesthetic change in both the human and biotic art worlds, including the coevolutionary origins of aesthetic properties and aesthetic value in the art world. Reconstructing aesthetics, art criticism, and art history without human agency at the organizing centers of these disciplines stimulates new progress in our understanding of art and the unique human contribution to aesthetics and aesthetic diversity.