Beauty:
There
are many things in the world that are considered beautiful, but what makes
something beautiful? Beauty is simple;
something is considered beautiful if it is pleasant
to one of the senses. A beautiful song or sound is one that is pleasant to
the ears, and the sense of hearing. A beautiful sight is one that is pleasant
to the eyes, and the sense of sight. A beautiful scent is one that is pleasant
to the sense of smell. A beautiful taste
is a pleasant taste and a beautiful texture is one that is pleasant feeling,
however typically things are not normally described as beautifully tasting or
feeling.
What is considered beautiful tends
to vary between societies. In North America, things that are typically
described as beautiful are auditory or visual. Commonly, things like landscapes
and art are described as appearing or looking beautiful. However, art and
beauty should not be synonymous. Art is something creative; something original
and something that makes people who experience it or come in contact with it
think or feel something. However, while art like beauty is in the ‘eye of the
beholder’, it can be art without being beautiful. A painting that evokes dark
and unpleasant feelings would typically be described as beautiful. If the
person viewing it did describe it as beautiful, it would be because something
in the painting appealed to them on some level. It could be that they find the
dominant colour used a pleasant colour. Alternatively, a beautiful painting of
a pleasant looking cottage might make some feel pleasant and relaxed, or
inspire a feeling of security; while, it makes others feel ill or irritated at
its simplicity (or reminds others of the evil witches cottage in fairy tales)
so they may not describe it as being beautiful.
People are also described as being
beautiful. However, there are two different contexts that can be perceived when
a person is described as being beautiful. They can be described as beautiful in
appearance and/or beautiful in essence and personality. Beauty is skin deep in
many ways, though, because it is limited to what can be experienced through the
senses. A person can be pleasant looking, but not be considered to have a
beautiful personality. You cannot tell a person’s personality without observing
their actions or hearing their words. A person is not just seen as having a
beautiful personality without proof; they are seen as such through their
actions or words- which can be experienced through the senses to create a
pleasant feeling. For example, to know that someone is generous we would need
to see them donating money. Donating money would be the pleasant sight, or
sensual experience, needed for us to perceive that person as having a beautiful
personality.
People can also be described as
having a beautiful voice. The description of a person’s appearance or voice can
show just how subjective a person’s perception of beauty is, as people that are
liked tend to inspire a higher level of pleasantness, while people who are
disliked tend to inspire more discontent. For example, in a relationship one
person might find the other person’s voice very beautiful, however after they
break up they might view the other’s voice more in comparison with nails on a
chalkboard. However, the perception of the sense is processed differently in
the two situations, making it remain true that it is what the person
experiences with the senses they have.
Music is also something that is
described as being beautiful. This is another area where the subjective nature
of beauty becomes very apparent. While most people can agree that classical
music has moments of beauty and can be very beautiful, not everyone enjoys
classical music the same way. People can recognize the pleasant aspects of it,
without truly enjoying the music genre as a whole. This relates back to the
painting and visual beauty. The painting might be on the disturbing side, but
if there is some aspect of it that inspires a pleasant feeling, than it can be
seen as beautiful. The same is true with music. One can also enjoy a song,
without it being beautiful. Most rap and heavy metal lacks a pleasantness,
since they tend to have a rough quality too them. However, that is how they are
supposed to be. So, if people can enjoy them even though they don’t necessarily
find them beautiful.
Besides the senses, there are things
that effect our interpretations of beauty. However, they only change the way we interpret what we sense, not
what we sense. For example, the two people mentioned earlier in a relationship
have different views during the relationship and after. This isn’t due to a
change in appearance or voice; simply the emotion associated it with it. It can
be agreed that the voice of a friend is more pleasant that the voice of a
stranger, even when taken out of the context of ‘friend’ and ‘stranger’, the
stranger might have a more pleasant voice. This is because our emotions caller
the context. This also occurs based on the feelings we have in the moment we
are experiencing and sensing. If we are in a happier mood, we are more likely
to view things favourably. If we are in a poor mood, we might find things more
unpleasant than they otherwise would be. However, as the thing itself doesn’t
change only the way we perceive it, it can be rationalized that it is our
senses that determine what is beautiful from what isn’t.
If a person had never had the
ability to sense anything – could never see, smell, taste, hear or feel – then
they would not have any concept of beauty is. They could not perceive it,
because they could not experience anything through their senses. However, if a
person lost their ability to sense anything – could no longer see, smell, taste,
hear or feel – then they could still imagine beauty, because they could recall
what they had previously found pleasant. This would allow them to experience
beauty through the memory of the things they had sensed before. The same way
remembering a happy moment or memory stimulates feelings of happiness in the
present.
In conclusion, beauty is nothing
more than what we perceive as pleasant through our senses. This can be seen in
what we perceive as beautiful, as well as how our perceptions of what is and
isn’t beautiful can change when our emotions toward things change. Since,
beauty is perceived through our senses in the same way colour or pitch is
determined it is simple in nature. This simplicity in what beauty is makes it
easy for people to use it and take it into consideration when trying to make
things beautiful, if people don’t try and dig deeper and over-complicate it.
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