The Descent of Man
Darwin turns evolution on his own species, and is at his least guarded when the subject reaches imagination, music and beauty.
Darwin 1871 application of evolution to human beings, covering our animal descent, the moral sense, and the theory of sexual selection that he thought explained what natural selection could not. The passages on imagination and on music are where he is least cautious and most interesting to read now.
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Maria Popova
Toward the end of his life, Darwin took up the question of the imagination on the pages of The Descent of Man (free ebook). This “highest prerogative” of the human animal, he wrote, “unites former images and ideas, independently of the will, and thus creates brilliant and novel results.”
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