Rebroadcast from 06/09/2009. Denis Dutton, a distinguished philosopher, writer and digital-media guru who founded Arts & Letters Daily, one of the first Web sites to exploit the Internet as a vehicle for meaningful intellectual exchange, died on December 28th 2010 in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he lived. He was 66. Full obituary from NYTimes.com.

Can you imagine what our cave people ancestors were thinking as they relaxed by the side of a fire and enjoyed a beautiful sunset? If you think that we've only learned to appreciate beauty more recently, think again. We are celebrating Darwin's bicentennial year with author Denis Dutton and his book The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution which explores the evolutionary role of aesthetic appreciation.

• Denis Dutton, founder and editor of the hugely popular Web site Arts & Letters Daily, author of The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution

• Denis Dutton
• The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution
• Arts & Letters Daily