Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 PhD student of Philosophy of Art, Faculty of Law, Theology and Political Sciences, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Law, Theology and Political Sciences, Science and Research Unit, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
While the significance of beauty and symmetry in science has been a recurring theme in the discourse of many eminent scientists, the philosophical contemplation of aesthetics within the philosophy of science has garnered attention only in recent years. This paper examines the perspectives of renowned scientists on the role of beauty and symmetry, revealing a spectrum of views where beauty is variously seen as a hallmark of truth or regarded with skepticism. We propose a psychological explanation for the scientific preoccupation with beauty and symmetry, suggesting that the human ability to recognize facial symmetry is an evolutionary adaptation. This adaptation's byproduct, we argue, is the inclination to appreciate symmetry in domains beyond the original adaptive purpose. Furthermore, the paper explores how portraiture often deviates from biological standards of beauty, indicating a potential to transcend biological predispositions. The final assertion posits that while the pursuit of beauty and symmetry can drive scientific inquiry, it may also impede the attainment of truth. Drawing parallels with artists who have transcended their biological inclinations, we suggest that scientists, too, might overcome these aesthetic biases.
Keywords
- زنگویل، نیک (1390). «مسائل کلی زیبایی شناسی» در مجموعه مقالات زیبایی شناسی، فریبرز مجیدی، چاپ اول، تهران: فرهنگستان هنر.
- شفیعی، مریم، هادی صمدی، پرویز ضیاشهابی (1398). «بازخوانی دیدگاه دیویی درباره‌ی واقع‌گرایی در علم: بر مبنای بخش‌هایی از کتاب هنر به منزله‌ی تجربه»، فلسفه علم، شماره 1، پیاپی 17
- شوسترمن، ریچارد (1393). «پراگماتیسم» در دانشنامۀ زیبایی شناسی، منوچهر صانعی درهبیدی، چاپ ششم، تهران: فرهنگستان هنر.
- کورسمایر، کارولین (1393). « ذوق» در دانشنامۀ زیبایی شناسی، امیرعلی نجومیان، شیده احمدزاده، چاپ ششم، تهران: فرهنگستان هنر.
- منبع‌چی، بهار، هادی صمدی، مالک حسینی (1400)، «تأثیر میانگین بودن در زیباشناسی چهره‌نگاره‌های نقاشی: ارزیابی شناختی-تکاملی«، متافیزیک، شماره 31، صص 73-82
- Chandrasekhar, S. (1987). Truth and Beauty: Aesthetics and Motivation in Science, University of Chicago Press.
- Dirac, P. A. M. (1980), ‘The Excellence of Einstein’s Theory of Gravitation’, in M. Goldsmith, A. Mackay and J. Woudhuysen (eds.), Einstein: The First Hundred Years. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
- Elgin, Catherine Z. (2020). “Epistemic Gatekeepers: The Role of Aesthetic Factors in Science”, The Aesthetics of Science: Beauty, Imagination and Understanding,1, N.Y: Routledge.
- Heisenberg, W. (1971). Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations, trans. Arnold J. Pomerans. George Allen and Unwin.
- Hossenfelder, S. (2018). Lost in math: How beauty leads Physics astray. Hachette, UK.
- Ivanovna, Milena (2020).” Beauty, Truth and Understanding”, The Aesthetics of Science: Beauty, Imagination and Understanding,1, N.Y: Routledge.
- Poincaré, H. (2001), The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincaré, ed. Stephen Gould. New York: Modern Library.
- Van Fraassen, B. (2008), Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
- Arabatzis, T. (2006). “On the inextricability of the context of discovery and the context of justification. In Revisiting discovery and justification”, Historical and philosophical perspectives on the context distinction (pp. 215-230). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
- Bleakley, A. (2010). “Blunting Occam's razor: aligning medical education with studies of complexity”, Journal of evaluation in clinical practice, 16(4), 849-855.
- Dresp-Langley, B., Ekseth, O. K., Fesl, J., Gohshi, S., Kurz, M., & Sehring, H. W. (2019). “Occam’s Razor for Big Data? On detecting quality in large unstructured dataset”, Applied Sciences, 9(15), 3065.
- de Barra, Mícheál, DeBruine, Lisa M., Jones, Benedict C., Mahmud, Zahid Hayat, Curtis, Valerie A. (2013)."Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood". Evolution and Human Behavior ,34 (6), 384–389.
- Enquist, M., & Arak, A. (1994). “Symmetry, beauty and evolution”. Nature, 372(6502), 169-172.
- Grammar, K., Thornhill, R. (1994). “Human (Homo sapiens) facial attractiveness and sexual selection: The role of symmetry and averageness”, Journal of Comparative Psychology, 108(3), 233-242.
- Jones, B. C., Little, A. C., Tiddeman, B. P., Burt, D. M., & Perrett, D. I. (2001). “Facial symmetry and judgements of apparent health Support for a “‘good genes’” explanation of the attractiveness”, symmetry relationship, 22, 417–429.
- Little, A. C. & Jones, B. C. (2003). “Evidence against perceptual bias views for symmetry preferences in human faces”, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B,270: 1759-1763.
- Little, Anthony C., Apicella, Coren L., Marlowe, Frank W. (2007)."Preferences for symmetry in human faces in two cultures: data from the UK and the Hadza, an isolated group of hunter-gatherers" ProcBiol Sci. 274(1629), 3113–3117.
- Liu, M. T., Iglesias, R. A., Sekhon, S. S., Li, Y., Larson, K., Totonchi, A., & Guyuron, B. (2014).” Factors contributing to facial asymmetry in identical twins”, Plastic and reconstructive surgery, 134(4), 638-646.
- Machilsen, B., Pauwels, M., & Wagemans, J. (2009). “The role of vertical mirror symmetry in visual shape detection”, Journal of vision, 9(12), 11-11.
- Milne, Barry J, Belsky, Jay, Poulton, Richie, Thomson, W. Murray, Caspi, Avshalom, Kieser, Jules (2003). "Fluctuating asymmetry and physical health among young adults". Evolution and Human Behavior. 24 (1): 53–63.
- Perrett, D. I., Burt, D. M., Penton-Voak, I. S., Lee, K. J., Rowland, D. A., & Edwards, R. (1999). “Symmetry and human facial attractiveness”, Evolution and human behavior, 20(5), 295-307.
- Ridley, M. (1992). “Swallows and scorpionflies find symmetry is beautiful”, Science, 257(5068), 327-328.
- Shackelford, T. K., & Larsen, R. J. (1997)."Facial asymmetry as an indicator of psychological, emotional, and physiological distress." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(2), 456–466.
- Sidman, M., Rauzin, R., Lazar, R., Cunningham, S., Tailby, W., & Carrigan, P. (1982). “A search for symmetry in the conditional discriminations of rhesus monkeys, baboons, and children”, Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 37(1), 23-44.
- Sperber, D., & Hirschfeld, L. (2007). “Culture and modularity”, The innate mind: Culture and cognition, 2, 149-164. 158.
- Thornhill, R., Gangestad, S. W. (1993). “Human facial beauty: Averageness, symmetry, and parasite resistance”, Human nature, 4, 237-269.
- Watson, P. J., Thornhill, R. (1994). “Fluctuating asymmetry and sexual selection”, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 9(1), 21-25.
)