A New Approach to the Arts: Tracing the Roots of Artistic Representation

This book considers how art actually works, how the various art forms connect with the world of ordinary human experience. Many books approach the subject from the top down, through topics such as the nature of beauty, the meaning of art, aesthetic judgement, and so on. The present book examines the subject from the ground up, so to speak, showing how the creation and appreciation of art spring from innate human needs and capacities. What we call ‘the arts’ emerge organically from the habit...