How did the arts originate? Four accounts Author: Doctor Terence Rajivan Edward Abstract. This is a dialogue based on three distinct essays I earlier wrote. The three essays present four speculative theories of the origins of art altogether. One is the group demarcation account, according to which the arts originated from the desire of a group of humans to demarcate themselves from outsiders. Another is the "scientific" account, according to which the arts originated from experiments on what effects can be made upon the mind, upon human minds, such as what scares. A third is the surplus energy account, according to which the arts originated as a way of indicating surplus energy, by putting extra effort into doing a task in an artistic way. A fourth account - satirical - is the trophy account, according to which a tribe of strong people sometimes kept a weak child, weaker than normal, rather than killing them, as a symbol of its overall strength: we can carry this person. And they called what the weakling did "art". Draft version: version 3 (21st September 2026) WIcked is the summer breeze That experiments upon the trees A philosophy lecturer - now a professor - told me that the dialogue format is not a good one for philosophy, or that is what he finds from his experience. He doesn't think Plato made a good decision back in those days! Here I want to turn 3 essays of mine into a dialogue, because I think it is more convenient for presenting the information that way. *The question* STRANGER: Tell us, philosopher, of how the arts originated. ME: Um, can I say I am a philosopher? It is such a grand description. I am a student of philosophy at least. Anyway, the question of how the arts originated seems to belong more to history than philosophy. Philosophy is about what you can find out by simply reflecting. This seems to be a question where you need to turn to sources. And even for the historian it seems unanswerable, because they lack records of why the earliest humans did things. Also in earlier times, art was not separated from religion apparently. STRANGER: How can you be a philosopher if you don't have a theory of how the arts originated? ME: Did you not pay attention to what I was saying? We lack records of why the earliest humans did things, so we are not in a position to answer your question. STRANGER: Answer it anyway. Speculate. It's too boring otherwise. ME: Okay I shall try. I am assuming, by the way, that you are referring to poetry, music, painting, etc. *Two theories* ME: Two theories occur to me readily. STRANGER: What's the first one? ME: It's the group demarcation account or that is what I shall call it. Imagine some children who form a gang. They now want to demarcate themselves from nongang members. They do things like wear unusual clothes or walk in an unusual way. All gang members walk in that way and no one else does. The arts originated from this disposition to mark off group members from others, insiders from outsiders. Groups developed styles of doings, of visual representation or singing or speaking (poetry!), etc. This account comes easily if you have read Claude Levi-Strauss, who thinks we are all snobs, who try to distinguish ourselves from being in a natural condition, by how we eat, etc. STRANGER: Okay, interesting. What about the other one? ME: I call the other one the scientific account, but that label is not meant to convey a more justified account, more justified by the evidence. Imagine a child with a magnet, or observe one.They repeatedly put the magnet near iron and observe the magnetic effect: how there is attraction. Similarly, the arts developed from observing effects upon the mind - on people's minds. A child loudly says, "Boo," when a parent is busy - their mother cooking,say - and causes the parent to jump. This is a reliable effect one can produce, if the circumstances are appropriate. They move on to developing scary stories. There may be no formula by which they craft their stories to, but they predict this story content will scare people and observe the effect. In this way the arts develop, from experimentation upon the mind. But it does not have to be fear which is the focus. It could be other effects on the mind! Laughter, etc. *Some "criticism"* STRANGER: Listen, philosopher, you have provided 2 theories, but anyone could devise these, or any donkey could. ME: Any donkey could? What do you mean by that? STRANGER: Of course, I don't literally mean a donkey. ME: Do you mean a hard working academic type with a bit of general intelligence who is presented with this question: how the arts originated? STRANGER: Yes, basically! ME: I don't know. It is hard to say what people can do. If you observe a person doing formal logic, with a series of logical symbols, you might assume that they would have been good at high school maths in general, such as geometry and algebra. Maybe that is not true. Someone has figured out how to produce a good logician who was never good at high school math in general. I don't know. Maybe. In sceptical moods, I sometimes wonder whether what I encounter is cleverly designed effects, like those houses in movies which look like houses on the screen but actually lack roofs and various other features one associates with fully functioning houses. (But, of course, these logicians, etc., may function in their specific job.) STRANGER: Anyway, do you have a third theory? ME: Also, before presenting any third theory, remember that this is idle speculation. We don't have a way of justifying an account that seems plausible to us. And there is no reward in a journal for producing a speculative account. You are bored and so am I, so we are doing this. There are probably academics who can't function without incentive. If they were like us, often contemplating things, with no professional reward in sight, how would they even have children, or bring them up anyway? STRANGER: You underestimate the benefits of wealth probably! *A third theory* ME: Okay, I have come up with a third theory. It is the energy account, or the surplus energy account. It is back in ancient times. You put three markings on a person to convey a message to others: that this person is a slave, say. But by the spacing you use, it also produces an effect of beauty. You could have conveyed the same message without having this effect, such are the conventions of the time. When people experience the effect, they realize it takes extra work involved to do that and think of you as having more energy than is needed to do the task: to convey the message. That impresses them. You could be useful because of your extra energy, your surplus energy. The arts originated as a way of indicating extra energy. Practical tasks were pursued with an artistic touch, which takes extra work. Similarly, today, the elegant writer strikes us as having put effort into their writing, which was not officially required by the task, and that is an indicator of extra energy available. STRANGER: I didn't think of that: that art has its origins in economics really. *A fourth theory* ME: Even a fourth theory has occurred to me. STRANGER: Do go on. ME: Warning: it is somewhat satirical. STRANGER: I am not that sensitive. ME: In the early days, man was strong: referring both to men and women. But sometimes they would have a weak child, weaker than normal. The tribe would simply kill weak children, for they were too much of a burden back then. But one tribe started keeping one or two of these weaklings, as a symbol of its strength: we are so strong that we can carry this weak child, literally and metaphorically. That child was called "the artist" and everything they did was called "art" or everything distinctive. If they had an unusual way of singing, that way of singing was called art. References Allan, Derek. 2019 (second version). Analytic Aesthetics and the Dilemma of Timelessness. Available at: https://philpapers.org/rec/ALLAAA-10 Brenner, Art. 1977. The structuralism of Claude Levi-Strauss and the visual arts. Leonardo 10: 303-306. Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2022. How did the arts originate? The group demarcation account and the scientific account. Currently available at: https://philpapers.org/rec/EDWHDT-2 Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2025. Any Donkey Could, common sense, and an economic account of the origins of the arts (and coding task appendix). Currently available at: https://philpapers.org/rec/EDWADC-6 Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2026. On the origin of art again (and coding homework). Currently available within: https://www.academia.edu/145819054/On_the_origin_of_art_again_and_coding_homework_ Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2026. On the origins of art. Instagram video of redrafting. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ddjw_o3xx6n/ Note: I will probably request deletion of the ones specified as currently available. They are also available within the current version of my book Any Donkey Could, which will hopefully soon be updated: https://philpapers.org/rec/EDWADC-4