What’s your problem? And how might we deepen it?

Literary studies need not always incorporate evolution but should always be at least compatible with the most powerful theory for explaining life. Evolution can open up new questions (like: why are we art-making, storytelling, versifying animals?), suggest new principles (like: always take into consideration the costs and benefits of creating or engaging in literary works), and offer new explanations of the life art represents and the effects it elicits (in sociality or emotion, say). These insights need not be restricted to human universals – evolutionary anthropology and evolutionary personality psychology investigate societal and individual differences – and can help explain at multiple levels, the global, the local, the individual, the work or the detail. Evolutionary considerations should not be required a priori but incorporated on a case-by-case basis, where they can almost always add explanatory depth.