ABSTRACT
Why do people notice qualities such as beauty, elegance, or fitness? In the widely accepted view of Kant, there is no further function; beauty is disinterested, and people notice beauty (or elegance or fitness) because it, in itself, gives satisfaction. In Santayana’s (1896/1955) view, aesthetic appreciation is linked to drives in biological survival and evolution. In this chapter, I draw on an aesthetic of everyday life (Dewey, 1934) and the notion of everyday creativity (Richards, 1990) to modify Santayana’s perspective. I propose an active role for aesthetics in memetic evolution, or the evolution of information. Interestingly, this “active” role is consistent with Kant’s “disinterested’ position. Aesthetic appreciation also has characteristics of a mindfully aware state. Parallels can be drawn, to flow states found in active creating, when attention and all capacities are mobilized in the moment and coordinated. However, in active creating, the absorptive element may be even more prominent. Flow may be optimal when challenges to the organism are being successfully met, and, in this context, the paper examines the role of aesthetic appreciation in the lives of persons who have coped with adversity through creative means. Finally, the paper looks at what has been called the “sublime,” and its particular promise for mindful awareness and personal change. If aesthetic capacity holds such promise, it should be greatly more cultivated in education and training, and in all other areas of life.
