When we talk about beauty, we might think of a beautiful woman, or a famous celebrity, or perhaps a snowy mountain scene. These images are considered beautiful because they are memorable, and they represent something that can make people happy or feel grateful. They are often interpreted in different ways, whether through painting, photography or music.
The idea of beauty has been studied extensively in philosophy, from the Greek and Roman times to the eighteenth century. The classical conception of beauty, for example, is based on the theory that an object’s beauty depends on proportion, harmony and symmetry.
Aristotle, for example, focuses on these principles when defining beauty. He explains that “to be beautiful, a living creature, and every whole made up of parts, must present a certain order in its arrangement of parts” (Aristotle volume 2, 2322 [1450b34]).
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, many philosophers began to question this perspective and saw that beauty was a value that reflected the beliefs of individuals and their cultures. They feared that beauty would become a subjective experience for most of society, rather than a universal value.
Eventually, this led to the abandonment of beauty as an objective goal in the arts. As a result, artists started to concentrate on other goals and ideas, putting more focus on social, political or even ecological issues.
Another major shift in how we think about beauty was the rise of the scientific approach to aesthetics, which focused on the study of how objects can induce a particular kind of pleasure. This led to a variety of theories, such as Santayana’s definition of beauty as ‘objectified pleasure’.
The science of aesthetics also began to study how a person’s personal concept of beauty influences their worldview and the way they view their own appearance. The research has shown that some people’s perception of beauty is influenced by their genes, grooming habits and early experiences with their appearance.
When a person’s personality is combined with these aspects of beauty, it can lead to an individual’s psyche being transformed by their own sense of beauty. Ultimately, this transformation can lead to a greater appreciation for others’ beauty.
This is particularly true for people who are able to break through society’s expectations and find the beauty within themselves. It can take a lot of time and effort to achieve this, but the rewards are well worth it when they do.
Aesthetics can also be applied to other fields of study, such as psychology and neuroscience. For instance, in a recent study of the brains of infants, researchers found that babies tend to respond positively to faces that are symmetrical and attractive. They are also more likely to perceive things that have a specific shape, like circles or triangles.
This is an important aspect of how beauty can be influenced by the mind, and how we can begin to change it. We can do this by consciously focusing on our feelings and the emotions we are experiencing when we see or hear beautiful things.