«La bellezza è un sentimento istintivo». L’estetico nei Notebooks darwiniani

Abstract

From Charles Darwin, the theoretical framework of evolutionary aesthetics is sexual selection. Recent debate focuses the attention particularly on the criterion of female choice. The aim of this article is to sketch a Darwinian way to aesthetics complementary to the one that Darwin himself present in The descent of man (1871). A series of notes in the Darwin's notebooks traditionally known as “Metaphysical Enquiries” will constitute the point of departure for a hypothetical reconstruction of evolutionary history of aesthetic