Humanshaveengagedinartisticandaestheticactivitiessincetheappearanceofourspecies.Ourancestorshavedecoratedtheirbodies,tools,andutensilsforover100,000years.Theexpressionofmeaningusingcolor,line,sound,rhythm,ormovement,amongothermeans,constitutesafundamentalaspectofourspecies’biologicalandculturalheritage.Artandaesthetics,therefore,contributetoourspeciesidentityanddistinguishitfromitslivingandextinctrelatives.Scienceisfacedwiththechallengeofexplainingthenaturalfoundationsofsuchauniquetrait,andthewayculturalprocessesnurtureitintomagnificentexpressions,historicallyandethnicallyunique.Howdothehumanmindandbrainbringaboutthesesortsofbehaviors?Whatpsychologicalandneuralprocessesunderlietheappreciationofpainting,music,anddance?Howdoestrainingmodulatetheseprocesses?Arehumanstheonlyspeciescapableofaestheticappreciation,orareotherspeciesendowedwiththerudimentsofthiscapacity?Empiricalexaminationsofsuchquestionshavealongandrichhistoryinthedisciplineofpsychology,thegenesisofwhichcanbetracedbacktothepublicationofGustavTheodorFechner’sVorschulederAesthetikin1876,makingitthesecondoldestbranchinexperimentalpsychology.TheOxfordHandbookofEmpiricalAestheticsbringstogetherleadingexpertsinpsychology,neuroimaging,arthistory,andphilosophytoanswerthesequestions.Itprovidesthemostcomprehensivecoverageofthedomainofempiricalaestheticstodate.Withsectionsonvisualart,dance,music,andmanyotherartformsandaestheticphenomena,thebreadthofthisvolume’sscopereflectstherichnessandvarietyoftopicsandmethodscurrentlyusedtodaybyscientiststounderstandthewayourmindandbrainendowuswiththefacultytoproduceandappreciateartandaesthetics.
line music sound rhythm tools therefore DANCE HANDBOOK OXFORD MUSIC SOUND RHYTHM TOOLS THEREFORE dance
