On the Nature of Beauty

The word beauty often conjures images of meticulously toned bodies of lingerie supermodels or the serene power of natural wonders like Niagara Falls—but such images do not necessarily constitute the complete spectrum of all things beautiful. Beauty, as perceived and understood by mankind has largely been influenced by tradition or education, however formal or informal. However, to assert that only those people, or edifices, or works of art, that conform to the specter of beauty identified as “uniform” is an egregious assumption to be sure. Beauty not only encompasses such proportionately uniform persons, architectural structures, and artwork, but also includes many objects deemed irregular, deformed, bland, or otherwise unremarkable. In his seminal treatise, An Inquiry Into The Original Of Our Ideas Of Beauty And Virtue, Francis Hutcheson relates some of the nuances that have contributed to society’s current notion of, or rather it’s lack of understanding of, beauty. While many might refute the author’s notions that beauty is evident in objects that are neither uniform nor teeming with variety, a rather simple examination of some of the great artistic achievements in recent years, as well as a simple introspection into some common occurrences in the lives of everyday people, will suffice to demonstrate the true nature of beauty, that it is an idea held deep down inside the soul, and that it is a characteristic which few actively seek has no bearing in the determination as to which people, places, or things are considered beautiful.

While it has been asserted that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, there are other considerations concerning the identification and contingency of beauty that must be addressed to more accurately and objectively illustrate the concept. In particular, Francis Hutcheson asserts that it is primarily associations of ideas that result in our determination of whether or not an object is pleasant or disagreeable. For example, many individuals may possess a certain phobia towards spiders, regardless of the size or venomous nature of the specimen. As such, the likeness of an arachnid is seldom used in the décor of homes or in the design of clothing, with few exceptions, as spiders have for the most part been relegated as ugly and grotesque. One must observe, however, that certain spiders are not necessarily as repugnant as others but are still regarded with similar disgust and degrees of fear. While spiders like the Northern Black Widow, Latrodectus variolus, can appear quite menacing, other species like Phidippus mystaceus from the “jumping spider” family has been described as cute, with it’s caricature like facial expression and furry exterior. However, the fear of being bitten by, or even killed by, a venomous spider lurking in the shadows has caused people to completely overlook the fact that certain species might not even possess any inherently disagreeable qualities. Such distinctions are rarely made, however, when categorizing specimens as either beautiful or hideous. Rather, the prevailing status quo surrounding spiders—that they are all dangerous and deplorable insects in need of a good boot stomping— as well as that surrounding countless other aspects of life are perpetuated in people’s lack of understanding as to what constitutes true beauty. However, great works of art show promise in supporting the more liberal definition of beauty.

The two-fold nature surrounding society’s reactions to some of history’s most cherished works of art is indicative of peoples’ tendencies to reduce beauty to the ‘uniformity amidst variety’ definition introduced by Hutcheson, but in truth the concept of beauty is far more encompassing than that. To illustrate this concept we need only turn to the paintings of Pablo Picasso. For many decades now, Pablo Picasso’s artwork has been widely regarded as some of the most extraordinary and inspirational pieces of art to have ever been created. Additionally, Picasso’s work has garnered this recognition despite the fact that his paintings are wholly uncharacteristic of any kind of traditional uniformity. However, it is also a widely known fact that some people simply cannot comprehend the inherent genius of Picasso’s artwork. Whether or not such is the case only in regards to those who know nothing about art has yet to be clarified, but such conflicts echo the sentiments of St. Augustine in his perennial text De Veritate Religione. In it, he questions the beauty and satisfaction of life, inquiring as to whether or not people find beauty in objects because they are the source of delight, or whether objects are a source of delight because they are beautiful. Perhaps those who find Picasso’s work beautiful only assert as much because they find delight in particular paintings, and those who find no beauty in the artwork are simply individuals that take no delight in such expressions. However, if beauty is antecedent to delight, than the existence of parties with opposing opinions concerning the satisfaction experienced in a given piece of art succinctly illustrates society’s lack of understanding of beauty. Either way, that the overwhelming majority of the population reveres the deformed, dissymmetrical portraits in Pablo Picasso’s paintings is a clear indication that beauty encompasses more than simply the “uniform amidst variety”. Moreover, while beauty may not materially manifest in many individuals, human beings still possess a sense of beauty that can never be eradicated or forgotten.

It is important to understand there are those who, despite any apparent pursuit of beauty, are nonetheless reverent of its significance. In his work on beauty, Francis Hutcheson explicated on the difference between a sense of beauty and a desire for beauty, stating that a ‘desire’ for beauty might be counteracted by some reward or threat, but never a ‘sense’ of beauty. Understanding this particular component of beauty might be easier in relation to other senses that receive similar prejudice. A fat, juicy steak might look appetizing and taste great, but to the individual with high cholesterol, the risk of a heart attack or stroke simply outweighs, or at least should outweigh, the satisfaction that comes from eating it. Likewise, those afflicted with the common cold may not particularly enjoy the taste of Nyquil, but because it is a medicinal beverage designed to combat the illness in one’s body, the sick often sacrifice their aversion for bad tasting medicine for the prospect of recuperation. In both circumstances, no matter the consequences, a nice rib eye steak is always going to taste delicious and cough medicine is always going to taste awful, but because the looming threats of cardiovascular difficulty and a prolonged sickness persist, people are content to forego their desires for steak, or their dissatisfaction for unpleasant beverages, for the sake of their overall well-being. Similarly, that many people may not necessarily embody the essence of absolute beauty is not to assert that they have no sense of beauty. For there are many who do not actively work towards achieving a ‘beach body’ that nonetheless regard such achievements with awe and respect, understanding that to transform an average human figure into a sculpted, muscular physique surely required many months of hard work and dedication. Furthermore, one can imagine that while many may not frequent art festivals or line the walls of their homes with Picasso and Warhol prints, such individuals still possess an appreciation for the arts. This is significant because those that have no clear association with the arts are often presumed to be ignorant of their significance, but Hutcheson clearly demonstrates that such is not necessarily the case.

In addition to the objectivity associated with the recognition of beauty, it is important to note the distinction of relative beauty in contrast to absolute beauty. Whereas absolute beauty in the context of Hutcheson refers to an innate characteristic whose existence has no connection to any previous experiences of the subject, relative beauty is heavy reliant on an individual’s previous associations with the object in question. Hutcheson notes in his treatise on beauty that places or objects which we deem ugly might not be classified as such if we had never before seen any similar place or object of better quality. Essentially, his theory suggested that something like an old, tattered brick building might never be regarded as run down or decrepit if the individual looking at it had never seen a pristine, newly built brick building. As noted by Peter Kivy in his article on Hutcheson’s writings, this is one of the most important concepts that Hutcheson ever suggested because, as human beings, “we would never have had occasion to call anything in the world “beautiful” but for the internal sense of beauty”. However, that internal sense of beauty that we all possess came from somewhere. It is not a sense that simply manifested out of thin air—as children growing up we were all instructed as to the people and objects that qualified as beautiful and those which did not. However, that education in this manner is the prevalent practice by which individuals learn the particulars of beauty by no means suggests that the true essence of beauty has been captured, or accurately disseminated. In contemplating this method of learning about beauty, one cannot help but realize that nearly every concept of beauty to which we as human beings subscribe is ultimately the opinion of some distant stranger from centuries past, a thought distilled over the years and regurgitated as common knowledge. Considering that, it is difficult not to imagine what the word beauty might encompass if its definition had been different.

Lastly, in discussing beauty it is important to acknowledge that while uniformity amidst variety might have been the standard for beauty in times past, the 21st century has clearly demonstrated that such maxims no longer hold. One need only look at some of the residential architecture that has been developed in recent years to understand that people no longer abide by this historic convention. These homes, located in Tokyo and Texas, respectively, illustrate the aversion to convention.

Additionally, recent trends in fashion have also signaled the acceptability of garments that do not conform to the traditional conventions of symmetry. Dresses are no longer required to have hems equal in length around the entire circumference of the garment. Shirts marketed with only one shoulder strap fly off the shelves. And in addition to clothing, hairstyles are also emerging that even ten or twenty years ago, society might have considered preposterous. Today, though, they merely represent expressions.

What these images lack in uniformity amidst variety, however, they make up for with something else. Despite their seemingly erratic nature, the absence of symmetry or evenness, these homes, habiliments, and hairdos all exemplify beauty in one form or another.

The thing to understand about beauty is that it has no set form. It has no set pattern, no rules that designate where certain lines must intersect with others. No longer is someone beautiful because his or her body type correlates with a particular standard. Never, in fact, has such been the singular essence of beauty, even though it is the sentiment that for many years was purported as such. In this day and age, beauty has come to embody not only the buildings with superbly uniform lines and designs, but also those creations that represent the polar opposite of such architectural planning. Beautiful are the objects that, even absent any truly disagreeable features are still regarded with disdain or belittlement. Indeed, it would seem that the idea of beauty is a notion all it’s own, a sensation Hutcheson claims is “one that occurs independently of our external senses”. Furthermore, this assertion is corroborated not only in the clothing we wear and the homes that we live in, but most poignantly, in the artwork that we cherish.

Bibliography

Hutcheson, Francis and Wolfgang Leidhold. An inquiry into the original of our ideas of beauty and virtue. Indianapolis, Ind.: Liberty Fund, 2004.

Kivy, Peter. "The `Sense' Of Beauty And The Sense Of `Art': Hutcheson's Place In The History And Practice Of.." Journal Of Aesthetics & Art Criticism 53.4 (1995): 349.

Matthews, Patricia M. "Hutcheson on the Idea of Beauty." Journal of the History of Philosophy, 36. 2 (1998): 233--259.

Portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter - Pablo Picasso - WikiPaintings.org." Wikipaintings.org, 2013. <http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/pablo-picasso/portrait-of-marie-th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se-walter-1937-1>.

Sartwell, Crispin, "Beauty", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2012 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2012/entries/beauty/>.