Evolving Hamlet: Seventeenth-Century English Tragedy and the Ethics of Natural Selection (Cognitive Studies in Literature and Performance)

Where science has often been used to explore the questions raised by art, this book does the reverse, suggesting that art can address a problem raised by science: the deep challenge to ethics posed by Darwin’s discovery that we are intentional beings living in an unintentional world. Using Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth, among others, Angus Fletcher shows how the physical experience of art can transform Darwin’s discouraging theory into a practice-based ethics that establishes pluralism, curiosity, and cooperation as the basis of progressive life. Recent Work In Cognitive Science Has Rooted Our Moral Dispositions In The More Ancient And Less Plastic Regions Of Our Brains, Seeming To Confirm Darwin's Suspicion That A Biological Approach To Human Life Must Necessarily Produce A Narrowly Conservative (and Perhaps Even Immutable) Account Of Ethics. This Book, However, Explores A Now-forgotten Suggestion Made By William James And Other Early Pioneers Of Cognitive Science Who Saw Art As A Means To Translate The Experimental Study Of The Mind Into A Skeptical, Pluralist, And Progressive Approach To The Good Life. Using Hamlet And A Number Of Other Popular And Influential Seventeenth-century Tragedies As Case-studies, This Book Shows How Aesthetic Experience Can Help Organize The Biological Functions Of Our Brains Into Adaptive Social Networks That Not Only Make Us More Resilient To The Pressures Of Natural Selection, But Fulfill The Human Need For Intentional Life. Seen This Way, Art Is Not--as Many Recent Cognitive Scientists Have Suggested--simply A Mirror Of Our Natural Mental Functions. Rather, It Is Also An Active Contributor To New Functions, A Useful Tool For Translating The Theoretical Discoveries Of Science Into Progressive Ethical Practice-- Introduction : The Descent Of Ethics -- Fuastus, Macbeth, And The Riddle Of Tomorrow -- Partial Belief In Julius Ceasar And Hamlet -- Othello And The Subject Of Ocular Proof -- The Indian Emperour And The Reason Of New World Conflict -- Christian Generosity And The New Shakespeare -- King Lear And The Endurance Of Tragedy -- The Progress Of Ethics. Angus Fletcher. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. "Recent work in cognitive science has rooted our moral dispositions in the more ancient and less plastic regions of our brains, seeming to confirm Darwin's suspicion that a biological approach to human life must necessarily produce a narrowly conservative (and perhaps even immutable) account of ethics. This book, however, explores a now-forgotten suggestion made by William James and other early pioneers of cognitive science who saw art as a means to translate the experimental study of the mind into a skeptical, pluralist, and progressive approach to the good life. Using Hamlet and a number of other popular and influential seventeenth-century tragedies as case-studies, this book shows how aesthetic experience can help organize the biological functions of our brains into adaptive social networks that not only make us more resilient to the pressures of natural selection, but fulfill the human need for intentional life. Seen this way, art is not--as many recent cognitive scientists have suggested--simply a mirror of our natural mental functions. Rather, it is also an active contributor to new functions, a useful tool for translating the theoretical discoveries of science into progressive ethical practice"-- Provided by publisher Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 Introduction: The Descent of Ethics......Page 18 1 Faustus, Macbeth, and the Riddle of Tomorrow......Page 32 2 Partial Belief in Julius Caesar and Hamlet......Page 56 3 Othello and the Subject of Ocular Proof......Page 84 4 The Indian Emperour and the Reason of New World Conflict......Page 102 5 Cartesian Generosity and the New Shakespeare......Page 118 6 King Lear and the Endurance of Tragedy......Page 140 7 The Progress of Ethics......Page 152 Conclusion......Page 164 Notes......Page 168 Index......Page 202