THE BEAUTY
NATURE OF GIRL
A nymph with morning glory flowers by Lefebvre. The image of the young woman is a classical symbol of human beauty, and a dominant theme in art. Beauty is an innate and emotional perception of life's affirmative aspects — vitality, health, fertility, happiness, and goodness — within objects in the perceived world. In its most profound sense, the beauty engenders a sense of positive reflection on the meaning of one's own being within nature.
Beauty involves cognition of objects as having a balance and harmony with nature, which elicits in the viewer a sense and experience of attraction, affection, and pleasure. An "object of beauty" is anything in the perceived world which reveals a personally meaningful aspect of "natural beauty". The presence of the self in any human context means that beauty is naturally based on its human meaning, wherein human beauty is often the dominant aspect of a greater natural beauty. The opposite of beauty is ugliness —ie. the perceived lack of beauty, which stimulates displeasure and
engenders a deeper negative perception of the object.
Religious and moral teachings often focus on the virtue and divinity of beauty, to assert natural beauty as an aspect of a spiritual beauty (ergo truth) and define all self-centered or materialistic pretentions as based in ignorance. The ancient story of Narcissus for example deals with the distinction between beauty and vanity. In the modern context, the usage of beauty as means to promote an ideology or dogma has been a focus of societal debates which center around issues of prejudice, ethics, and human rights.
engenders a deeper negative perception of the object.Religious and moral teachings often focus on the virtue and divinity of beauty, to assert natural beauty as an aspect of a spiritual beauty (ergo truth) and define all self-centered or materialistic pretentions as based in ignorance. The ancient story of Narcissus for example deals with the distinction between beauty and vanity. In the modern context, the usage of beauty as means to promote an ideology or dogma has been a focus of societal debates which center around issues of prejudice, ethics, and human rights.
The usage of beauty for purposes of commercialism is a controversial aspect of the "culture wars," wherin feminism typically claims such usage promotes a dogmatic (ie. "The Beauty Myth") rather than a virtuous understanding of beauty.
Beauty ALL
Understanding the nature and meaning of beauty is one of the key themes in the philosophical discipline known as aesthetics. The composer and critic Robert Schumann distinguished between two kinds of beauty, natural beauty and poetic beauty: the former being found in the contemplation of nature, the latter in man's conscious, creative intervention into nature. Schumann indicated that in music, or other art, both kinds of beauty appear
, but the former is only sensual delight, while the latter begins where the former leaves off.
A common theory says that beauty is the appearance of things and people that are good. This has many supporting examples. Most people judge physically attractive human beings to be good, both physically and on deeper levels. The phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," however, suggests that beauty is wholly subjective.
Many see natural beauty folded within petals of a rose.
"Beauty as goodness" has many significant counterexamples with no agreed solution. These include such things as a glacier, or a ruggedly dry desert mountain range. Most people find beauty in nature, despite it sometimes being "red in tooth and claw" (Tennyson). Another type of counterexample are comic or sarcastic works of art, which can be good, but are rarely beautiful.
It is well known that people's skills develop and change their sense of beauty. Carpenters may view an out-of-true building as ugly, and many master carpenters can see out-of-true angles as small as half a degree. Many musicians can likewise hear as dissonant a tone that's high or low by as little as two percent of the distance to the next note. Most people have similar aesthetics about the work or hobbies they've mastered.
Beauty as a quantifiable and measurable attribute places upon the trained and educated viewer a great deal of responsibility to tolerate defect. Thus, beauty is in the eye of the beholder only so far as the beholder tolerates defect. It is indeed subjective but in relation to one's intelligence and understanding.
, but the former is only sensual delight, while the latter begins where the former leaves off.A common theory says that beauty is the appearance of things and people that are good. This has many supporting examples. Most people judge physically attractive human beings to be good, both physically and on deeper levels. The phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," however, suggests that beauty is wholly subjective.
Many see natural beauty folded within petals of a rose.
"Beauty as goodness" has many significant counterexamples with no agreed solution. These include such things as a glacier, or a ruggedly dry desert mountain range. Most people find beauty in nature, despite it sometimes being "red in tooth and claw" (Tennyson). Another type of counterexample are comic or sarcastic works of art, which can be good, but are rarely beautiful.
It is well known that people's skills develop and change their sense of beauty. Carpenters may view an out-of-true building as ugly, and many master carpenters can see out-of-true angles as small as half a degree. Many musicians can likewise hear as dissonant a tone that's high or low by as little as two percent of the distance to the next note. Most people have similar aesthetics about the work or hobbies they've mastered.
Beauty as a quantifiable and measurable attribute places upon the trained and educated viewer a great deal of responsibility to tolerate defect. Thus, beauty is in the eye of the beholder only so far as the beholder tolerates defect. It is indeed subjective but in relation to one's intelligence and understanding.
No comments:
Post a Comment