Man's Rage for Chaos: Biology, Behavior and the Arts

by Morse Peckham

This is a new edition of the much neglected 1967 breakthrough analysis of behavior and the arts. Cultural criticism has been too obsessed with the rage for order to be able to grasp the import of Peckham's search for "some human activity, which serves to break up orientations, to weaken and frustrate the tyrannous drive to order, to prepare the individual to observe what the orientation tells him is irrelevant, but what may every be relevant." This book is destined to force a sharp turn in critical cultural studies because it addresses the rage for chaos in traditional "high culture," not just in popular culture.

Genres: Art, Philosophy, Cultural, Nonfiction, Music, Biology, Science

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel stupid. It's not that I don't understand this book, even though it IS dry and it is sometimes hard to follow. What's making me feel stupid is that it's taking me FOREVER to read. I think I read it in college in a few weeks, but now, years later, it's been a few weeks and I've only read 150 pages. That said, this book is ridiculously dry and careful in its convoluted sentences and made-up prissy vocabulary, but it needs to be, since the guy is trying to formulate a new way of thinking about art and how art works in the world.

For some reason, Morse Peckham has been forgotten, but I think he's written one of the few theories of aesthetics that I actually believe in. Just today, this Yalie architecture professor saw what I was reading and mentioned Peckham's name with disdain.
I said, Have you actually read him?
No.
Well, I think he's one of the best U.S. philosophers of this century.
That's a mighty claim.
And one I stand behind. He prefigured a lot of the trope of the so-called post-structuralists, and I include Foucault and Barthes in that category.
I don't particularly care for the term "post-structuralists."
That's why I said "so-called."
And we went on and on...

But what does Mr. Peckham say? Well, basically (so far) that art is not about order. Art is a place for us to engage in chaos; something which we are generally predisposed against (because we want a predictable and ordered world). "Art" isn't an empty category, but a category like all human categories, composed of signs. And the "set" of art is mainly determined by an exposure to chaos, but in a comfy setting. So the artist's role is to create occasions for disorientation and the perceiver's role is to experience that disorientation. Of course, as soon as that disorientation is perceived, it quickly becomes standardized and loses the enjoyment we get from its cognitive dissonance.

So again, we all "perform" in socially created roles. Society is prescriptive, yet the rules we follow can never perfectly respond to the world as is. So art allows us a safe haven to experience cognitive dissonance so that when we actually experience a disconnect between our roles and the world, we can adapt.

It's a bold claim, and more, I think he's right.

And honestly, you can read the last seven pages to get a good idea of what he's going for. Those last few pages are remarkably easy to read and are a relatively succinct distillation of what's come before. It won't give you but a taste of the brilliance of the book, but it should let you know if you'll want to set down and read it, and it's almost good enough for most smart-sounding dinner talk.

[Amanda Mecke · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting critical books I read in my academic career. It's a shame it is out of print. Peckham argues that art and literature reflect the human impulse to innovate, to add chaos rather than to impose order on society.

[Thomas Knoll]

Man's Rage for Chaos Biology, Behavior, and the Arts by Morse Peckham (1969)

[Lee Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are involved in any kind of creative activity, this book will be tremendously informative. It's one of the books at the top of my top 100 list. Notable excerpts would be numerous.

[Anton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me forever, had to reread parts over and over, found it very challenging .. but once I understood it I found myself thinking it the most insightful and profound essay in art and aesthetics I've ever read. Original, creative, far-ranging, ahead of its time, and to my mind, true, until something convinces me otherwise. Now I have to read it again!

[Bart · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few interesting ideas wrapped in far too much pedantry and pedantic classification.