We have a deep ingrained desire for aesthetics, yet we rarely stop to consider what we find beautiful. Often, our attention is drawn to the most eye-catching aspects of something, such as a piece of artwork or a photograph. The experience of beauty is not solely internal and primarily based on what we deem to be beautiful, but also connects us with objects and the world. Here are a few ways to explore the notion of beauty in your own life and work.
The first step is to recognize the objectification of beauty. This means that beauty judgments are a product of our responses to objects that cause us pleasure. But beauty also has a social and political context. The concept of beauty has become entangled in issues of race and gender. In the early twentieth century, social justice movements began to challenge the notion of beauty, and its association with capitalist values. While it was still possible to create a purely aesthetic work, its association with wealth and aristocracy led to controversy.
One philosopher, Polyclitus, considered beauty as a matter of shape. Objects that are aesthetically pleasing should be well-balanced. Having the correct proportions is a hallmark of beauty, and Polyclitus even created a statue of a human being based on this text. The statue was called the Canon. The idea of beauty as something that transcends the physical is a far more profound one. It is also a profound experience that can make a person feel good about herself.
The classical conception of beauty focuses on the harmonious arrangement of integral parts in an appealing whole. Aristotle said that beauty is the presentation of order in a given composition. In this conception, beauty is a product of symmetry between two objects, such as the parts of a body, or the parts of an object as a whole. Moreover, beauty is universally symmetrical. So, this concept of beauty can be applied to many different art forms.
The concept of beauty is essentially similar to immortality. As Stendhal said, beauty is a promise of happiness. However, this statement doesn’t quite get to the core of the matter. Beauty is a form of immortality. It is therefore important to define what beauty really is. Its meaning, besides being an expression of your inner self, is not only subjective, but also factual. In this way, beauty will always be more meaningful to you in your daily life.
Various philosophers have linked beauty to suitability for use. Socrates said that everything we use is beautiful. This is in contrast to Moore’s definition, which states that beauty is “not good in itself, but a necessary element of a good thing.”