Proximate and ultimate factors in evolutionary thinking on art
- Author
- Eveline Seghers (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- Art is often described as an evolutionary adaptation, but not enough thought has been given to arguments in support of this claim. This can lead to a variety of explanatory issues, such as unjustly describing artmaking as an adaptation, not recognizing its complex nature, and its potentially even more complex evolutionary trajectory. This paper addresses one subject in particular, which is the conceptual distinction between ultimate and proximate levels of explanation. More specifically, this brief analysis investigates to what extent functional, adaptive explanations and proximate mechanisms might be confused, leading to strong adaptationist claims that may not be in accordance with the available evidence. In this paper, two hypotheses are discussed from this perspective, and it is argued that both of them, upon closer and more extensive analysis, might not stand the adaptationist test.
- Keywords
- proximate, evolutionary psychology, ultimate, art, ethology, evolution
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-7172478
- MLA
- Seghers, Eveline. “Proximate and Ultimate Factors in Evolutionary Thinking on Art.” HUMAN ETHOLOGY BULLETIN, vol. 31, no. 1, 2016, pp. 47–59.
- APA
- Seghers, E. (2016). Proximate and ultimate factors in evolutionary thinking on art. HUMAN ETHOLOGY BULLETIN, 31(1), 47–59.
- Chicago author-date
- Seghers, Eveline. 2016. “Proximate and Ultimate Factors in Evolutionary Thinking on Art.” HUMAN ETHOLOGY BULLETIN 31 (1): 47–59.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Seghers, Eveline. 2016. “Proximate and Ultimate Factors in Evolutionary Thinking on Art.” HUMAN ETHOLOGY BULLETIN 31 (1): 47–59.
- Vancouver
- 1.Seghers E. Proximate and ultimate factors in evolutionary thinking on art. HUMAN ETHOLOGY BULLETIN. 2016;31(1):47–59.
- IEEE
- [1]E. Seghers, “Proximate and ultimate factors in evolutionary thinking on art,” HUMAN ETHOLOGY BULLETIN, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 47–59, 2016.
@article{7172478,
abstract = {{Art is often described as an evolutionary adaptation, but not enough thought has been given to arguments in support of this claim. This can lead to a variety of explanatory issues, such as unjustly describing artmaking as an adaptation, not recognizing its complex nature, and its potentially even more complex evolutionary trajectory. This paper addresses one subject in particular, which is the conceptual distinction between ultimate and proximate levels of explanation. More specifically, this brief analysis investigates to what extent functional, adaptive explanations and proximate mechanisms might be confused, leading to strong adaptationist claims that may not be in accordance with the available evidence. In this paper, two hypotheses are discussed from this perspective, and it is argued that both of them, upon closer and more extensive analysis, might not stand the adaptationist test.}},
author = {{Seghers, Eveline}},
issn = {{2224-4476}},
journal = {{HUMAN ETHOLOGY BULLETIN}},
keywords = {{proximate,evolutionary psychology,ultimate,art,ethology,evolution}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{47--59}},
title = {{Proximate and ultimate factors in evolutionary thinking on art}},
volume = {{31}},
year = {{2016}},
}