Empirical approaches to study aesthetic experiences
-an introduction to neuroaesthetics-
Prof. Tomohiro Ishizu (Department of Psychology, Kansai University)
Absstract:
Art and aesthetic experiences enrich our daily lives. It may appear distant from the empirical sciences at first glance, but it shares similar goals and is closely related to them in that it explores perception and engages with the workings of the mind. Neuroaesthetics is a discipline that studies the relationship between brain function and aesthetic experience (e.g., beauty, ugliness, being moved, sublime) as well as between cognitive processes and artistic activity (e.g. appreciation of artworks, artistic critique, creativity) using empirical methods from cognitive neuroscience. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes researchers from psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, art, art history, to welfare engineering. Following an overview of basic cognitive neuroscience research findings on aesthetic judgements such as beauty and ugliness, I will present research on more complex aesthetic experiences beyond simple beauty, such as sorrow and the sublime. Through these, I hope to explore what beauty means to humanity from a neuroaesthetics point of view.