The text is structured in chronological and ideological order and presents nine basic types of the classical perception of the problem of knowledge through an analysis of the atomistic theory of perception, Platonism, Aristotle's doctrine, scepticism, rationalism, sensualism, Kant's theory, phenomenological-existential, pragmatic, and (post) analytical perceptions. The proposed work aspires to be an introduction (not a complete presentation, neither in the number of types, nor in a full interpretation) and a basis for the reader's interpretations which is reflected in the structure of the text.

This book is centred around the examination of whether it is possible to find cognitive aspects or purposes in aesthetic judgements and in perceptions of beauty, and whether it is possible to meaningfully develop cognitive aesthetics as a unified science (the unification of philosophical and cognitive approaches) using an epistemic background of beauty and art. The book offers various aspects of understanding cognitive characteristics of aesthetic experience. The authors examine the distinction between ordinary and aesthetic experience. They regard a conceptual and semantic analysis of the concept of beauty and focuse on the differences in the evaluation of physical beauty between the sexes from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. The problem of the facial attractiveness and the aesthetic experience from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience is also object of their investigation. The contributors elaborate on beauty in music and emotionality, the problem of the beauty in mathematics and the mathematics of beauty, and consider the vision of how cognitive science affects art theory.

The monograph presents psychological interpretations of the specific reactions of individuals within the perception of attractive human faces. It concentrates on exploring selected attributes of human face that increase its attractiveness. After introducing essential information on the specifics of facial perception and its brain correlates, the monograph presents findings on the effect of symmetry, averageness, proportions, sexually dimorphic features, personality characteristics, or the importance of specific parts of the face to its attractiveness. Based on the results of both foreign and own research, the authors formulate interpretations of why and how the identification and preference of examined characteristics have been developed and maintained by the evolution.