beauty never fades

7/27/2019 Beauty Never Fades

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Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, so-

cial psychology, and culture. An ideal beauty is an entity

which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to

beauty in a particular culture, for perfection. Beauty beginsas an organic entity which can be thus altered by new means.

The experience of beauty often involves the interpreta-

tion of some entity as being in balance and harmony with

nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emo-

tional well-being. Because this is a subjective experience, it

is often said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.In its

most profound sense, beauty may engender a salient experi-

ence of positive reection about the meaning of ones own

existence. A subject of beauty is anything that resonates

with personal meaning.


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There is evidence that a preference for beau-

tiful faces emerges early in child development,and that the standards of attractiveness are simi-

lar across different genders and cultures. Symmetry

is also important because it suggests the absence of ge-

netic or acquired defects. Although style and fashion vary

widely, cross-cultural research has found a variety of commonali-

ties in peoples perception of beauty. The earliest Western theory

of beauty can be found in the works of early Greek philosophers

from the pre-Socratic period, such as Pythagoras. The Pythagorean

school saw a strong connection between mathematics and beauty.

In particular, they noted that objects proportioned according to

the golden ratio seemed more attractive. Ancient Greek architec-ture is based on this view of symmetry and proportion. Plato con-

sidered beauty to be the Idea above all other Ideas.Aristotle saw a

relationship between the beautiful and virtue, arguing that Virtue

aims at the beautiful.


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The characterization of a person as beautiful,

whether on an individual basis or by community

consensus, is often based on some combination of

inner beauty, which includes psychological factors

such as personality, intelligence, grace, politeness,

charisma, integrity, congruence and elegance,

and outer beauty (i.e. physical attractiveness) which

includes physical attributes which are valued on a

subjective basis. Standards of beauty have changed

over time, based on changing cultural values. His-

torically, paintings show a wide range of different

standards for beauty. However, humans who are

relatively young, with smooth skin, well-propor-

tioned bodies, and regular features, have tradition-

ally been considered the most beautiful through-out history.


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Dene beauty? One may as well dissect a soap bubble. We know

it when we see itor so we think. Philosophers frame it as a moral

equation. What is beautiful is good, said Plato. Poets reach for the lofty.

Beauty is truth, truth beauty, wrote John Keats, although Anatole France

thought beauty more profound than truth itself. Others are more con-

crete. People come to me and say: Doctor, make me beautiful, a plas-

tic surgeon reveals. What they are asking for is high cheekbones and a

stronger jaw.


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A basic philosophical denition of wisdom is tomake the best use of knowledge. The opposite of wis-

dom is folly. The ancient Greeks considered wisdom

to be an important virtue, personied as the goddesses

Metis and Athena. To Socrates and Plato, philosophy

was literally the love of Wisdom. This permeates Pla-

tos dialogues, especially The Republic, in which the

leaders of his proposed utopia are to be philosopher

kings: rulers who understand the Form of the Good

and possess the courage to act accordingly. Aristotle,

in his Metaphysics, dened wisdom as the understand-

ing of causes, i.e. knowing why things are a certain

way, which is deeper than merely knowing that things

are a certain way.


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I am standing behind a one-way mirror

watching a six-month-old baby make

a choice. The baby is shown a series of

photographs of faces that have been rated

for attractiveness by a panel of college students.

A slide is ashed; a clock ticks as the baby stares at the

picture. The baby looks away; the clock stops. Then its

on to the next slide. After more than a decade of studieslike these, Judith Langlois, professor of psychology at

the University of Texas in Austin, is convinced that this

baby, like others she has tested, will spend more time

looking at the attractive faces than the unattractive

ones. Whats an attractive face? Its a symmetrical face.

Some faces are more pleasing to look at than others. Its

a question of harmony and the placement of features.

The pictures of the young girl with wide-set eyes and a

small nose is easier on the eye that the one of the young

girl with close-set eyes and a broad nose. Extremes are

off-putting and generally not attractive, Langlois says.Beauty is not whimsical. Beauty has meaning.


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beauty never fades

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