What Makes Something Beautiful?
BESIDES PHOTOSHOP®...
“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” —Confucius
If we can agree that beauty is that which provides pleasure or joy to the senses or the mind, then we can proceed to the more challenging task of deciding which qualities produce beauty. It is often said that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” implying that the concept of beauty is not static but contingent upon each individual’s unique preferences, feelings, and circumstances. However, there are some human experiences that almost everyone describes as beautiful.
Most would agree that works of art like van Gogh’s Starry Night (page 132) or Beethoven’s Für Elise are beautiful, or that diamonds or sunsets are beautiful. On the other hand, “beautiful” is not usually one of the first words chosen to describe the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard or the contents of a porta-potty. These trends suggest that there are certain properties and proportions that are generally more pleasing than others.
There is no shortage of theories about the roots of beauty. Everything from general rules (curves are more beautiful than straight lines) to rigid mathematical formulas (the Fibonacci Sequence, page 209) have been offered as indisputable explanations for the true source of beauty, but there is always a counterexample to refute such narrow claims. Perhaps we should be content with the delight that beauty brings us, but then we wouldn’t be very good philosophers! —CKG
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
• How much of beauty is relative to individual experience and how much is the same for everyone?
• How is beauty different from goodness? Can thoughts and actions be beautiful?