Emotional and Social Origin of Art in Yrjö Hirn’s Evolutionary Aesthetics

Yrjö Hirn (1870–1952), art researcher and professor of aesthetics and modern literature, was one of the most internationally renowned Finnish scholars of his time. This chapter examines Hirn’s theory of the emotional and social origins of art as presented in his major work, The Origins of Art: A Psychological and Sociological Inquiry (1900). I focus on the psychological and sociological dimensions of Hirn’s aesthetics, which are very close to Westermarck’s sociology. By ‘psychological’ origin, Hirn refers to the human effort to regulate their emotions by sharing them with others. The underlying mechanism is sympathy or, in today’s terms, emotional empathy. By ‘sociological’ origins, Hirn means the practical reasons that influence the emergence and existence of art. There are related to conveying information, erotic attraction and sexuality, encouragement to work, and beliefs in the magical effects of artistic creations. In addition, the chapter sheds light on Hirn’s debt to the Scottish Enlightenment, especially Adam Smith’s moral philosophy.