An Essay: On Beauty

There is a frequently used saying that goes: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. It means that one can find something to be beautiful and another can find it to be ugly.  This notion is one that is widely accepted in American society. This notion is one that raises questions in my mind. After some careful thought, I have realized my problem with it: I believe there to be an objective standard for beauty. I wish to find out more about why I think this.

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People have preferences. Preferences are as old as Eve(probably older) and have been the cause of many clashes, from arguments to wars. They seem to be a constant in the ever-unfolding course of human history.  With the rise in availability and affordability of many modern luxuries, preferences now hold more weight than they ever have. With the past dictates of necessity slowly dropping away, preferences increasingly dictate the way we live. Each day, we stray further from a cultural consensus on what is truly good i.e. the ideal direction for our lives. More and more, we look within ourselves to find that desired direction. This increasingly inward-looking posture ties in well with our use of the saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This saying (as it is used today) is a vague, undefinable argument disguised as a deep, philosophical thought. It is sometimes used to defend or justify our life's current direction to others who may take issue with it. This saying is exactly what this inward-posture wants.

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But I argue that the inward-posture is something that we should not want. If only for the simple fact that, in one's inward dictates of direction for one's life, he may be wrong. He may have chosen the wrong direction. He may feel the wrong way about something. But how would he know if he has not looked outside himself to test that direction? What if a man sees something beautiful and pursues it for himself? Could he be wrong in his pursuit? What if he gave up all notion of responsibility to society in order to pursue this beauty that society thought disgraceful? What if this man were a murderer who thought death to be the supreme good and a most beautiful task? Or even that he might prefer murder above all other vocations. Would we then say that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”? Or would we disagree and say that this man is wrong? A problem arises with this saying; the danger of viewing beauty as subjective. I am not trying to make a case for the cultural consensus being the supreme good. In fact, I believe that such consensus’ are largely wrong. I am only trying to point us out of this inward-posture of self-satisfaction and back to something greater.

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Viewing beauty as subjective is in my opinion dangerous in yet another way. If one feels passionate about something beautiful, yet that passion is simply the result of his preference, then for what reason would he have the passion at all, especially if he can not convince others of its validity? Seeing beauty as solely subjective devalues the true passion of man; the great drive within him that has enabled the taming of nature and its wild beasts, that has given rise and kept the great civilizations still today, through great pain and suffering, enables the endurance of hardships in life and death for the sake of the ones that he loves. Man’s passion for beauty and truth denotes an objective standard for what is true, good, and beautiful. Standards of this kind are found all over the world taking the form of religious texts to self-help books. The only one I have found to be sufficient for explaining and healing the hardships of this world is the Bible; God’s Holy Word. 

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That objective standard is what we should return to discussing instead of, like some do, reverting to the shallow notion that “we all see beauty in different things.” This argument is agreeable to me in some ways. One is that we all see beauty in things. But what I take issue with is the way this notion is used. I have seen it used to shut down arguments on the subject of what is beautiful. I believe this to be a gross misuse of the notion. If we all see beauty in different things then shouldn’t we be arguing about it in order to expand and also sharpen our view of beauty?  We all see beauty in different things because there is something beautiful to see in everything. There is something there that goes beyond what we understand now. Take music as an example. Haven’t we all been “moved” or “changed” by a song? Why would we literally act differently after hearing a song if it didn’t contain something deeper than we had understood before hearing it? 

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Beauty shows us a glimpse into what we were made for. It is not just our conception of beauty that does this. It is a constant search for beauty that not all strive for. A beauty that some have the wrong ideas about and that we will be wrong about as well. We must seek to conform ourselves to what is truly beautiful instead of settling for second-rate sayings that excuse us from the uncomfortable pursuit. Beauty is a place in which we fit. So let us search for this standard in all things and test all things against the testament of the scriptures and of the creation itself. When we find true beauty, let us rejoice in it. 

Reviews

[Kane Hagwood]

First of all, let me start off for commending you on putting your thoughts onto "paper" (screen?). Most people don't have the drive or courage to put out their thoughts and observations. Not only that, but you kept on topic, and had something to say. It wasn't just jumping up and down on the diving board, not evading the point. You took the time to explore the idea and then dove towards the point instead. This shows a lot of promise.

Your essay made me do some thinking. My favorite pieces of work are the ones that make me think the most. That make me question my own ideas. Please note that anything I say should be taken with a grain of salt, for I can only speak from my own perspective.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" HAS become more of a dismissive statement rather than the deep, poetic saying people often try to use it as. Because it feels like an incomplete idea. Sure, beauty is subjective. But what about objective beauty? What defines beauty?

But also, what defines Love? Anger? Fear? Loss? Hope? Such large emotions, packaged in small words, with many of us still arguing what they really mean. And I respect that you too acknowledged this fact. That due to many of our modern lives, which can focus more on comfort rather than survival (sometimes, anyway), we have more of an inward focus. And when we don't challenge our ideas, we could be blindly following our own dogma. It helps being able to glance on what's happening on the inside, but it's best to keep your eyes on the road ahead of you. To SEE what others mention as beautiful, rather than just our own explanation.

The closest thing I can come to, as my answer to what objective beauty is, is "the win-win." Striving to find solutions that serve everyone, where everyone ends up benefiting. To treat others how I wish to be treated, no matter how different we may be. That, to me, is objective beauty. Aside from that, all I can offer are subjective ideas I have about concepts such as love, and my experience of beauty.

Although I've failed to find a proper title for my spiritual beliefs other than "pagan", I share many Christian values. I've also done a lot of studying of the bible after I no longer felt Christianity was my path to take. There are many people of different faiths who would probably claim I'm evil, or use some awful ugly word to describe my beliefs. My beliefs come from personal experience, and I've found beauty in them. What I define as true beauty. What other's may consider ugly, I was argue is beautiful.

I found I became a better, more helpful human being when I started following my path, and I found what I can only describe as objective beauty. The problem lies in not being able to expand on why I find what I do beautiful. Not because it isn't, but because people don't have the proper framework.

If you were told your entire life that tomatoes were from the devil, you'd spit on them. This is a true story, and now look at us. We have pizza, because someone challenged those beliefs. Jokingly, I would argue pizza if objectively a beautiful thing, but what about eating too much? Maybe not so much

I have found "true beauty" to me, and perhaps that is the best any of can hope for. Thank you for sharing this, and I look forward to reading more of your work :)