Nature'S Rhymes & Human Nature Cloth
Oxford University Press (Verlag)
978-0-19-888957-1 (ISBN)
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An intriguing and reflective exploration of the common beauty in art, mathematics, and science, and the mental benefits of their intrinsic rhyming patterns.The world is beautiful. From rainbows and butterflies to piano sonatas and gothic architecture. But why do we love beauty? And why is the world so full of it? If our sense of beauty has evolved by natural selection, our ancestors must have benefited from being in the
presence of things they found beautiful. Yet, surprisingly, much of the beauty is of no obvious utility to us.In this path-breaking book, Nicholas Humphrey proposes that the benefits of being attracted
to beauty are primarily cognitive rather than utilitarian: it's our minds that benefit. He opens with a discussion of the psychology of 'rhyme', showing how we take aesthetic pleasure not just in the rhymes of sounds but of shapes, objects, and even abstract ideas. With a masterly mix of philosophy and science, Nature's Rhymes and Human Nature shows how humans, and animals too, rely on detecting rhyming patterns to build a mental-model of the world. We need rhymes to nourish our minds,
just as we need food to nourish our bodies. Turning to 'aesthetic emotion', Humphrey considers the special feelings aroused in us by man-made beauty. If our appreciation of works of art
depends on our channelling the emotions of the artist, how can we feel the same for a rainbow or a butterfly? Does it happen when we see nature as a work of art: the work of an intelligent Creator?This intriguing exploration of the beauty in both nature and human nature casts new light on the mental benefits of seeking out the rhyming patterns all around us.
Nicholas Humphrey is a theoretical psychologist based in Cambridge, who studies the evolution of intelligence and consciousness. His interests are wide-ranging. He was the first to demonstrate the existence of 'blindsight' after brain damage in monkeys, did research on mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey in Rwanda, proposed the celebrated theory of the 'social function of intellect' and has investigated the evolutionary background of religion, art, healing, death-awareness, and suicide. His honours include the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize, the Pufendorf Medal, and the International Mind and Brain Prize. His most recent books are Sentience and Soul Dust.
1: Introduction: The Argument from Beauty
2: Rhyme
3: Likeness and Difference
4: A Gallery
5: Real Excellence
6: He's Got the Whole World in his Hands
7: Chapter Seven
8: The Beauty of Knowing
9: 'The Before Unapprehended Relations of Things'
10: How Monkeys Acquire a New Way of Seeing
11: The Sense of Order
12: The Cloud of Unknowing
13: Which Came First?
14: Value in a Wolrd of Facts
15: Significant Form in Nature
16: Pregnant Form
17: Beauty and the Brain
18: Why is the World so Beautiful?
| Erscheinungsdatum | 14.10.2025 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | Oxford |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Gewicht | 1 g |
| Themenwelt | Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Humanistische Psychotherapien | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-19-888957-7 / 0198889577 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-19-888957-1 / 9780198889571 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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