AUC PHILOSOPHICA ET HISTORICA
AUC PHILOSOPHICA ET HISTORICA

AUC Philosophica et Historica (Acta Universitatis Carolinae Philosophica et Historica) is a multidisciplinary academic journal focused on the humanities with more than 50 years of tradition.

The journal is indexed in CEEOL, DOAJ, and EBSCO.

AUC PHILOSOPHICA ET HISTORICA, Vol 2010 No 2 (2010), 22–33

S. Zeki and Neuroaesthetics – A Possible Framework to Objectify Aesthetics

Veronika Douchová, Jaroslav Nešetřil

published online: 18. 05. 2015

abstract

This article surveys the research and findings of neuroaesthetics, a subfield of neurology and empirical aesthetics. The main motivation for this line of research, which dates back to 2002 and probably even earlier, is a scientific study of the visual information processed by a human brain that is connected to or influenced by an aesthetic judgment. We discuss here mainly the work of S. Zeki, considered by many the founder of neuroaesthetics. We argue that the active nature of the process of seeing, and its structured and modular character, has its pendant in the structure of visual art – which is created and evaluated by brain. Thus an inquiry into the structure of the visual brain can provide information on the nature of visual art. This is in accordance with our “structuralist approach” to study of art, and can in a way be considered as an extension and a critique of Zeki’s position.

keywords: aesthetics; neuroaesthetics; visual brain; perception; internalism vs. externalism


periodicity: 2 x per year
ISSN: 0567-8293
E-ISSN: 2464-7055

Download