Beauty is an aspect of a thing that pleases the eyes. It may be a colour, weight, or age. People often argue about what something is beautiful.
According to the classical model, beauty is a combination of qualities. One might say that a thing is beautiful if it satisfies two requirements, symmetry and proportion. The same object at noon might be perceived as various colors.
During the 20th century, there was a renewed interest in beauty. Many philosophers began to question its significance. Some associated beauty with uselessness, while others argued that the quality was subjective. In an age of war, genocide and wastelands, how could we reconcile beauty with all of this?
The answer to this question lies in the complexities of how beauty works. The concept of beauty can be found in all manner of art, and it is not just aesthetically appealing. Aristotle posited that living things must show order in the arrangement of their parts.
Some modern thinkers believe that it is possible to create an item that is both beautiful and useful. For instance, a car design must first function as a car before superfluous design features can be implemented. A mathematical sequence known as the golden ratio can be considered a work of art.
The classic definition of beauty is a combination of symmetry, proportion, and a sensible adequacy of its design. A well-proportioned person is often seen as having a beautiful numerical pattern. The same can be said of a complex geometric design, which represents the boundlessness of God.
In the eighteenth century, David Hume argued that beauty is an individual’s reaction to an object. He also asserted that people should acquiesce in their own sentiment, because the individual’s sentiment is the most important.
Similarly, Thomas Aquinas offered a slew of elements that he regarded as necessary for a perfect example of beauty. The golden ratio and its attendant mathematical formula are used in many of his works. The corresponding formula was invented by the Greek mathematician Euclid. The golden ratio is the same as the golden number, which is a ratio of the length of a line divided into two equal or unequal parts. The golden number is a mathematical expression of the beauty of symmetry.
A third requirement of beauty is consonance. That is, a person should be able to make the connection between the object and their own experience. This is because beauty is not confined to the mind of the observer. It can be experienced in other places, such as in a community of appreciation. This is the most significant of the classically conceived elements of beauty.
The modern view of beauty is quite different from the classical one. In addition to giving greater importance to the observation subject, it is less concerned with moral beauty and more concerned with objective beauty.
The modern theory of beauty relies heavily on the interactions between the observer and the object. Thus, the “beautiful” adequacy of an object is not a function of a subjective opinion.