Denis Dutton, founder of the invaluable Arts & Letters Daily website, has died at age 66 of prostate cancer. He was a professor of philosophy at the U. of Canterbury in New Zealand. When I mentioned to him once where I was from, he pointed out that he'd grown up in the San Fernando Valley, too, and his parents had owned the well-known Dutton's bookstore in North Hollywood.
His recent book is The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution. He also wrote insightfully about the always interesting topic of art forgery.
Dutton gave great TED talk at http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty.html
ReplyDeleteBut no links to Vdare at A&L Daily.
ReplyDeleteVery sad to hear the news. I enjoyed his website and his book.
ReplyDeletePrediction: ALD will go PC.
ReplyDeleteDennis or Denis?
ReplyDeleteI thought it was the latter. I mention it b/c in the case of someone's name, correct spelling does make a difference.
Steve still mispells "Denis" after all these years...
ReplyDelete