Abstract:
In Jan Mukařovský’s study Aesthetic Function, Norm, and Value as Social Facts, we encounter the term “anthropological prerequisites, which refers to anthropological principles, i.e., something that is part of human nature. This something belongs to nature and could be considered the natural basis of aesthetic norms. Anthropological principles include, for example, the regular rhythm of blood circulation or breathing, right angles, symmetry, viewing angles, color complementarity, etc., in short, something related to human physicality. However, according to Mukařovský, aesthetic norms are a social, ergo cultural fact, which contradicts the claim that they are constituted on the basis of anthropological principles inherent to humans as a species. On the one hand, anthropological principles and aesthetic norms are autonomous, one belonging to nature and the other to culture. On the other hand, it must be said that there is nevertheless interaction between them. In other words, in some cultures and historical stages of art development, certain anthropological principles, such as the regular rhythm of blood circulation, may be consciously or unconsciously used in the process of constituting aesthetic norms. In other cultures and historical stages of art development, we encounter the fact that the constitution of certain aesthetic norms deliberately violates anthropological principles, and this violation is determined by the presumed aesthetic effect of the work of art. The aim of the paper entitled Anthropological Assumptions and Aesthetic Norms is to examine some of the modalities of the relationship between anthropological principles and aesthetic norms.