Public radio’s longest-running daily global news program.
©2025 The World from PRX
PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402.

Is taste in the arts just a social construction, or is it determined by evolution?
Denis Duttonwas a professor of the philosophy of art who took an interest in evolutionary biology. In his controversial book“The Art Instinct,” he argued that certain tastes in art are genetic. Dutton, who died in 2010, believed that if we examine art from around the world, we can see the marks of evolution.
(Originally aired November 20, 2009)