Beauty and the Beast: An Essay in Evolutionary Aesthetic

audiobook

Beauty and the Beast: An Essay in Evolutionary Aesthetic

by Stewart Andrew McDowall

EN·~2 hours·7 chapters

Chapters

7 total
1

Beauty and the Beast

2:06
2

PREFACE

0:36
3

INTRODUCTION

21:45
4

PART I THE THEORY

50:17
5

PART II BEAUTY IN EVOLUTION

19:55
6

CONCLUSION

7:06
7

APPENDIX ART FORMS IN DEVELOPMENT

46:50

Description

This work invites listeners into a reflective journey that bridges the worlds of biology, philosophy, and faith. Beginning with a vivid meditation on humanity’s instinctive awe of natural beauty, the author asks whether we perceive the world through the lens of the beautiful or the natural, and what that choice reveals about our deeper longings. Drawing on early twentieth‑century scientific insights, the essay unfolds a thoughtful argument that beauty itself may be a crucial piece in understanding both evolution and the human search for meaning.

The narrative proceeds with a gentle, conversational style, weaving personal anecdotes, theological reflections, and scholarly critique into a cohesive whole. Listeners will encounter the author’s earnest attempts to place aesthetics on equal footing with more traditionally “serious” branches of philosophy, hoping to uncover a missing link that connects love, creation, and the divine. It’s an engaging exploration that challenges assumptions while remaining accessible, making it a rewarding listen for anyone curious about how our sense of beauty shapes the story of life itself.

Collections

Browse all

Details

Language

en

Duration

~2 hours (142K characters)

Publisher of text edition

Project Gutenberg

Credits

Produced by Chris Curnow, Paul Clark and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

Release date

2013-08-16

Rights

Public domain in the USA.

Subjects

About the author

SA

Stewart Andrew McDowall

1882–1935

A schoolmaster and essayist with an unusual range of interests, he wrote about science, philosophy, society, and religion in ways that aimed to connect big ideas. His work reflects the intellectual debates of the early twentieth century and still feels strikingly wide-ranging.

View all books

You may also like

Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star

Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star

by Order of the Eastern Star. General Grand Chapter

The Gates Ajar

The Gates Ajar

by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

On Love

On Love

by Stendhal

History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 1

History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 1

by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jr. Joseph Smith

The Methods of Ethics

The Methods of Ethics

by Henry Sidgwick