Is beauty a criterion of truth? Genetic quality or aesthetic criteria, drivers of sexual selection in animals

Authors

  • Juan Ignacio Pérez Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC) in Spain.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.13.24722

Keywords:

sexual selection, beauty, evolutionary biology, evolution

Abstract

Do bees or hummingbirds perceive the beauty of the flowers they approach to take nectar? That is, can non-human animals appreciate beauty? Is there a universal truth regarding beauty? Or is it just a useful attribute, an indicator of a valuable trait? As with so many other natural phenomena, there is no simple answer to these questions. In the following document, we analyse different aspects of sexual selection and its connection (or lack thereof) to aesthetic criteria and the so-called handicap principle.

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Author Biography

Juan Ignacio Pérez, Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC) in Spain.

Full Professor of Physiology, director of the Chair of Scientific Culture at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), and associate at the Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC) in Spain. He is the president of Jakiunde, the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters of the Basque Country, and of the Advisory Committee of The Conversation Spain. In addition, he is the author of Animales ejemplares and co-author, with Joaquín Sevilla, of Los males de la ciencia (both published by Next Door Publishers in 2020 and 2021, respectively).

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Published

2023-02-23

How to Cite

Pérez, J. I. (2023). Is beauty a criterion of truth? Genetic quality or aesthetic criteria, drivers of sexual selection in animals. Metode Science Studies Journal, (13), 135–143. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.13.24722
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Issue

Science. The genesis of ideas (vol. 13, 2023)

Section

Beauty and nature

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