Can beauty help us adapt, evolve, and cope with environmental crisis? This article challenges the longstanding Kantian view that beauty is “disinterested,” while linking Kant’s view of the sublime with chaos theory and the fractal forms of nature. We humans participate in beauty as open systems in ongoing process, coevolving with all of existence. Beauty offers us conscious awareness and resonance with deeper life patterns. We sense our interconnection and the “bounded infinities” of potentialities related to chaotic “strange attractors.” A study of aesthetic preference not only supports preference for the fractal forms of nature but suggests, tentatively, that creative persons prefer forms of even higher “dimensionality.” Beauty can open up our vision in an endangered world—while yielding intimacy and delight, not isolation and fear. Caring can become natural for the greater whole we all cocreate. As humanistic psychologists, we can be concerned with no less than this totality.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abraham, F.
(1996). The dynamics of creativity and the courage to be. In W. Sulis & A. Combs (Eds.), Nonlinear dynamics in human behavior: Studies of nonlinear phenomena in life sciences (Vol. 5, pp. 364-400). Singapore: World Scientific.
2.
Albert, R.
(1996). To ur is human. Roeper Review, 21(1), 78-80.
3.
Albert, R.
(in press). The achievement of eminence as an evolutionary strategy. In M. A. Runco (Ed.), The creativity research handbook (Vol. 2). Creskill, NJ: Hampton.
4.
Barron, F.
(1969). Creative person and creative process. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
5.
Bateson, G.
(1972). Form, substance, and difference. Steps to an ecology of mind (pp. 448-466). New York: Chandler.
6.
Beardsley, M. C.
(1966). Aesthetics: From classical Greece to the present. New York: Macmillan.
7.
Borysenko, J.
(1996). A woman’s book of life: The biology, psychology, and spirituality of the feminine life cycle. New York: Riverhead Books.
8.
Briggs, J.
(1992). Fractals: The patterns of chaos. New York: Touchstone.
9.
Briggs, J.
,& Peat, F.D. (1989). Turbulent mirror. New York: Harper & Row.
10.
Burns, Robert
(1790). Sketch - New Year’s Day [1790]: To Mrs. Dunlop.
11.
Chung-yuan, C.
(1963). Creativity and Taoism: A study of Chinese philosophy, art, and poetry. New York: Julian.
12.
Cohen, R.
(1999). Red road to healing: Native American moontime wisdom. Bridges, 10(4), 6-8, 11.
13.
Combs, A.
(1995). The radiance of being. St. Paul, MN: Paragon House.
14.
Combs, A.
(1996). Consciousness: Chaotic and strangely attractive. In W. Sulis & A. Combs (Eds.), Nonlinear dynamics and human behavior: Studies of nonlinear phenomena in life sciences (Vol. 5, pp. 401-411). Singapore: World Scientific.
15.
Dawkins, R. A.
(1976). The selfish gene. New York: Oxford University Press.
16.
Dewey, J.
(1934). Art as experience. New York: Perigree Books/G. P. Putnam.
17.
Franck, R.
(1973). The Zen of seeing: Seeing/drawing as meditation. New York: Vintage.
18.
Gleick, J.
(1988). Chaos: Making a new science. New York: Penguin.
19.
Goerner, S.
(1995). Chaos, evolution, and deep ecology. In R. Robertson & A. Combs (Eds.), Chaos theory in psychology and the life sciences (pp. 17-38). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
20.
Goertzel, B.
(1995a). Belief systems as attractors. In R. Robertson & A. Combs, Chaos theory in psychology and the life sciences (pp. 123-134). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
21.
Goertzel, B.
(1995b). A cognitive law of motion. In R. Robertson & A. Combs, Chaos theory in psychology and the life sciences (pp. 135-153). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
22.
Goleman, D.
(1977). The varieties of the meditative experience. New York: E. P. Dutton.
23.
Hillman, J.
(1989). A blue fire: Selected writings by James Hillman. New York: HarperPerennial.
24.
Hillman, J.
(1995). A psyche the size of the earth: A psychological foreword. In T. Roszak, M. E. Gomes, & A. D. Kanner (Eds.), Ecopsychology: Restoring the earth, healing the mind (pp. xvii-xxiii). San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
25.
Howard, G. S.
(2000). Adapting human lifestyles for the 21st century. American Psychologist, 55(5), 509-515.
26.
Iannaccone, P. M.
, & Khokha, M. (1995). Fractal geometry in biological systems: An analytical approach. Boca Raton, FL: CRC.
27.
Kanner, A. D.
(1998). Mount Rushmore Syndrome: When narcissism rules the earth. The Humanistic Psychologist, 26(1-2, 3), 101-122.
28.
Kant, I.
(1964). The critique of judgment (J. C. Meredith, Trans.). Oxford, UK: Clarendon. (Original work published 1790)
29.
Krippner, S.
(1994). Humanistic psychology and chaos theory: The third revolution and the third force. Journal of Humanistic Psychology,34(3), 48-61.
30.
Laszlo, E.
(2000). Macroshift 2001-2010: Creating the future in the early 21st century. San Jose, CA: toExcel/iUniverse.com, Inc.
31.
Lauf, D. I.
(1995). Tibetan sacred art. Bangkok, Thailand: White Orchid Books.
32.
Loye, D.
(2000). An arrow through chaos: How we see into the future. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.
33.
Macy, J.
(1991). Mutual causality in Buddhism and general systems theory: The dharma of natural systems. Albany: State University of New York Press.
34.
Mandelbrot, B. B.
(1977). The fractal geometry of nature. New York: Freeman.
35.
Marks-Tarlow, T.
(1995). The fractal geometry of human nature. In R. Robertson & A. Combs, Chaos theory in psychology and the life sciences (pp. 275-283). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
36.
May, R.
(1985). My quest for beauty. Dallas, TX: Saybrook.
37.
McKenzie-Mohr, D.
(2000). Fostering sustainable behavior through community-based social marketing. American Psychologist, 55(5), 531-537.
38.
Nhat Hanh, T.
(1988). The sun my heart. Berkeley, CA: Parallax.
39.
Nhat Hanh, T.
(1996). Cultivating the mind of love: The practice of looking deeply in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Berkeley, CA: Parallax.
40.
Nhat Hanh, T.
(2000). The path of emancipation: Talks from a 21-day mindfulness retreat. Berkeley, CA: Parallax.
41.
Ornstein, R.
, & Ehrlich, P. (1989). New world, new mind: Moving toward conscious evolution. New York: Touchstone.
42.
Oskamp, S.
(2000). A sustainable future for humanity? How can psychology help?American Psychologist, 55(5), 496-508.
43.
Peitgen, H.-O.
, & Richter, P.H. (1986). The Beauty of Fractals. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
44.
Peitgen, H.-O.
, Jurgens, H., & Saupe, D. (1992). Chaos and fractals: New frontiers of science. New York: Springer-Verlag.
45.
Pennisi, E.
(1995). Imperfect match: Do ideal mates come in symmetrical packages?Science News, 147, 60-61.
46.
Pilisuk, M.
(2001). Ecological psychology, caring, and the boundaries of the person. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 41(2), 25-37.
47.
Pilisuk, M.
, & Parks, S. H. (1986). The healing web: Social networks and human survival. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.
48.
Preston, R.
(1994). The hot zone. New York: Random House.
49.
Puhakka, K.
(1997). An invitation to authentic knowing. In T. Hart, P. I. Nelson, & K. Puhakka (Eds.), Spiritual knowing: Alternative epistemic perspectives (pp. 5-24). Carrollton: State University of West Georgia.
50.
Rhodes, C.
(1990). Growth from deficiency creativity to being creativity. Creative Research Journal, 3 (4), 287-299.
51.
Rhodes, C.
(1990). Growth from deficiency creativity to being creativity. In M. Runco & R. Richards (Eds.), Eminent creativity, everyday creativity, and health (pp. 247-263). Greenwich, CT: Ablex.
52.
Richards, R.
(1981). Relationships between creativity and psychopathology. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 103, 261-324.
53.
Richards, R.
(1990). Everyday creativity, eminent creativity, and health. “Afterview” for CRJ special issues on “Creativity and Health.”Creativity Research Journal, 3, 300-326.
54.
Richards, R.
(1993). Seeing beyond: Issues of creative awareness and social responsibility. Creativity Research Journal, 6, 165-183.
55.
Richards, R.
(1996a). Beyond Piaget: Accepting divergent, chaotic, and creative thought. New Directions for Child Development, 72, 67-86.
56.
Richards, R.
(1996b). Does the Lone Genius ride again? Chaos, creativity, and community. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 36(2), 44-60.
57.
Richards, R.
(1997). When illness yields creativity. In M. Runco & R. Richards (Eds.), Eminent creativity, everyday creativity, and health (pp. 485-540). Greenwich, CT: Ablex.
58.
Richards, R.
(1999a). The “four P’s” of creativity. In M. Runco & S. Pritzker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (Vol. 1, pp. 733-742). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
59.
Richards, R.
(1999b). The subtle attraction: Beauty as a force in awareness, creativity, and survival. In S. W. Russ (Ed.), Affect, creative experience, and psychological adjustment (pp. 195-219). Philadelphia: Brunner/Mazel.
60.
Richards, R.
(in press-a). Everyday creativity and the arts. In A. Montuori & R. Purser (Eds.), Social creativity: Prospects and possibilities (Vol. 3). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
61.
Richards, R.
(in press-b). Millennium as opportunity: Chaos, creativity, and Guilford’s Structure-of-Intellect Model.Creativity Research Journal.
62.
Richards, R.
, & Kerr, C. (1999, July/August). The fractal forms of nature: A resonant aesthetic? Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences, Berkeley, CA, and also at the 107th annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA. (Version to be available through ERIC)
63.
Riebel, L.
(2001). Consuming the earth: Eating disorders and ecopsychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 41(2), 38-58.
64.
Roberts, E. J.
(1998). Place and the human spirit. The Humanistic Psychologist, 26(1-2, 3), 5-34.
65.
Ross, N. W.
(Ed.). (1960). The world of Zen. New York: Vintage.
66.
Runco, M.
, & Pritzker, S. (1999). Encyclopedia of creativity. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
67.
Runco, M.
, & Richards, R. (1997). Eminent creativity, everyday creativity, and health. Greenwich, CT: Ablex.
68.
Sabelli, H. C.
, Carlson-Sabelli, Patel, M., Levy, A., & Diez-Martin, J. (1995). Anger, fear, depression, and crime: Physiological and psychological studies using the process method. In R. Robertson & A. Combs (Eds.), Chaos theory in psychology and the life sciences (pp. 65-88). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
69.
Santayana, G. S.
(1955). The sense of beauty: Being the outline of aesthetic theory. New York: Dover. (Original work published 1896)
70.
Schuldberg, D.
(1999). Chaos theory and creativity. In M. Runco & S. Pritzker (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (pp. 259-272). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
71.
Sewall, L.
(1995). The skill of ecological perception. In T. Roszak, M. E. Gomes, & A. D. Kanner (Eds.), Ecopsychology: Restoring the earth, healing the mind (pp. 201-215). San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
72.
Sewall, L.
(1998). Looking for a worldview: Perceptual practice in an ecological age. The Humanistic Psychologist, 26(1-2, 3), 163-178.
73.
Sheldrake, R.
(1984). Morphic resonance. In S. Grof (Ed.), Ancient wisdom and modern science (pp. 149-166). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
74.
Sheppard, A.
(1987). Aesthetics. New York: Oxford University Press.
75.
Skarda, C.
, & Freeman, W. J. (1987). How brains make chaos in order to make sense of the world. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 10, 161-173.
76.
Stern, P. C.
(2000). Psychology and the science of human-environment interactions. American Psychologist, 55(5), 523-530.
77.
Wilson, E. O.
(1992). The diversity of life. New York: Norton.
78.
Winter, D.
(2000). Some big ideas for some big problems. American Psychologist, 55(5), 516-522.
79.
Zausner, T.
(1996). The creative chaos: Speculations on the connection between non-linear dynamics and the creative process. In W. Sulis & A. Combs (Eds.), Non-linear dynamics in human behaviour: Studies of non-linear phenomena in life science (Vol. 5, pp. 343-363). Singapore: World Scientific.
80.
Zausner, T.
(1998, August). Creativity, panic attacks, and states of awe: A model from nonlinear dyanmics. Paper presented at the 8th International Conference, Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences, Boston, MA.
