The article presents an analysis of the concept of the art instinct. This is a notion introduced by Denis Dutton in his concept of the evolution of art. The autor analyses the internal coherency of Dutton’s concept and its implications, with investigations in the context of evolutionary biology and biological anthropogenesis. The article’s conclusions are that: (1) the idea of art instinct is incoherent and difficult to uphold in the light of contemporary knowledge of the mechanisms of evolution and the course of anthropogenesis; (2) it is, however, a notion that is convenient and explanatorily efficient, as long as one accepts—among other things—the reservation about the non-teleological course of evolution; (3) the art instinct and the phenomenon of art cannot be explained without referring to social processes.

Warsaw highbrow journal Biblioteka Warszawska in the second phase of its history, 1864–1914. It was a period of rapid development of the natural sciences, accelerated by the gradual reception of Darwin's theory of evolution. The arrival of Darwinian naturalism had major consequences beyond the scientific community. Although it led to the abandonment of Romantic evolutionary ideas, it not only reaffirmed the Eurocentrism of contemporary science but also tended to encourage attempts at constructing a racial hierarchy of white peoples.