$100.24 with 17 percent savings
List Price: $121.00

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
FREE delivery May 29 - June 13. Details
Only 10 left in stock - order soon.
$$100.24 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$100.24
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
BOOKS etc. _
Ships from
BOOKS etc. _
Sold by
BOOKS etc. _
Sold by
BOOKS etc. _
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic: Evolution of Sensibility in Nature Hardcover – July 15, 2015

See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$100.24","priceAmount":100.24,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"100","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"24","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"ovakYVAIZXWzRg1KYfb73wwimVB8lzoPOm%2FlqVNMHLw8P48iJ3s5fUoG4RLQUv8a1o6PYSpfR0jDdEwh2trMqliP%2BCIMPfbfOuxf95HdnI7M4J0%2BTTefnl%2Fc9FpyubGlnUGEYV7SJFzbqpbUpNOApEzdvXc54mBkrNEKQFOYDEj6dBu5PQ3UzoB4uahvy%2BfM","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

TheIndispensable Excess of the Aesthetic: Evolution of Sensibility in Nature traces the evolution of sensibility from the most primal indications detectable at the level of cellular receptors and plant tendril sensitivity, animal creativity and play to cultural ramifications. Taking on Darwin’s insistence against Wallace that animals do have a sense of beauty, and on recent evolutionary observations, this book compellingly argues that sensibility is a biological faculty that emerges together with life. It argues that there is appreciation and discernment of quality, order, and meaning by organisms in various species determined by their morphological adaptations and environmental conditions. Drawing upon Baumgarten’s foundational definition of aesthetics as scientia cognitionis sensitivae, this book proposes a non-anthropocentric approach to aesthetics as well as the use of empirical evidence to sustain its claims updating aesthetic understanding with contemporary biosemiotic and evolutionary theory. The text leads us along three distinct but entwined areas: from the world of matter to that of living matter to the realm of cultivated living matter for exploring how and why sensibility could have evolved. It points out that aspects traditionally used to demarcate and characterize human aesthetics—such as appreciation of symmetry, proportion and color, as well as pleasure, valuation and empathy, sensory seduction, creativity, and skills for representation, even fiction—are present not only in humans but among a variety of plant and animal species.

Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Lexington Books
  4. Publication date
    July 15, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    6.33 x 0.92 x 9.29 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1498503063
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1498503068
  8. See all details
Next page
The Amazon Book Review
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now

Editorial Reviews

Review

Philosophical aesthetics is now in a new age. One of the main subjects of the New Aesthetic is the theory of aesthesis (perception/feeling). Katya Mandoki offers a daring new version of this theory. In a sense, the author tries to answer the questions: why is the beautiful beautiful? What is the very origin of art? The field of her argument is, of course, the theory of evolution, with the main reference being Darwin, philosophy’s confrontation with the sciences, and many different forms of knowledge so as to dazzle us: ‘exuberance’ as the subject of the book is performed. -- Ken-ichi Sasaki, University of Tokyo

This book is a unique contribution to the recent body of work on the significance of the aesthetic in human evolution. It offers a compelling argument for grounding the aesthetic in the naturalistic frame of evolutionary theory. Mandoki's account is richly informative, guiding the reader through a wide body of scholarship in biology, cognitive science, semiotics, psychology, cultural studies, history, philosophy, and aesthetics. Her sharp eye cuts through the mass of vague universal concepts such as genes and memes, "dubious dichotomies,” and competing and conflicting theories, always guided by the recognition of connections and contexts. At the same time the writing is unfailingly fresh and engaging and even sparkles with wit. A rare achievement. -- Arnold Berleant, C.W. Post, Long Island University

About the Author

Katya Mandoki teaches aesthetics and semiotics at the Autonomous Metropolitan University.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lexington Books (July 15, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1498503063
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1498503068
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.13 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.33 x 0.92 x 9.29 inches

Customer reviews

No customer reviews