Is Beauty Objective? - Get Exam Help Now!

[beccalicious87]

i was just wondering if someone could please help me
i have an exam tm and was wondering if you could please give me some ideas on what to write about
the question is beauty objective??
what does this mean??
thankyou

 

[cristo]

The question could be extended: "Is beauty objective, or is beauty in the eye of the beholder?"

 

[beccalicious87]

so what would be some tips on what to write about??

 

[JoeDawg]

so what would be some tips on what to write about??

First define your terms.

What is objective?
What is beauty?

 

[Rade]

Let us try these definitions:

Beauty is a sense of harmony of parts of a unit as viewed by the rational consciousness

A Unit is a thing held in the consciousness as being a member of a group of two or more similar members (thus what exists is not the unit but the thing)

To be Objective is to hold that concepts OF VALUE such as beauty of a unit are a dialectic formed in the human consciousness as: (1) determined by the metaphysical reality of the unit, and (2) as discovered and judged by the epistemology (= reason) of the rational consciousness. Thus to be objective is to hold to a dialectic philosophy that entangles metaphysics and epistemology.

Using these definitions one can see how beauty of a unit can be objective. Beauty is NEITHER only in the eye of the beholder NOR is it only in the object, but beauty is a dialectic--it is the objective superposition of the object as a thing (metaphysics) as judged (epistemology) as a unit by the rational beholder. This is how I see it, fire away with comments.

 

[arildno]

Hmm..I'd rather take a more humble, empirical approach:
We might regard those elements/features of the world as objectively (or at least intersubjectively) beautiful that all humans find beautiful.

I.e. "objective beauty" is a statistical extreme on a spectrum ending in the other extreme of "objective ugliness".

 

[JoeDawg]

Let us try these definitions:

Beauty is a sense of harmony of parts of a unit as viewed by the rational consciousness

A Unit is a thing held in the consciousness as being a member of a group of two or more similar members (thus what exists is not the unit but the thing)

To be Objective is to hold that concepts OF VALUE such as beauty of a unit are a dialectic formed in the human consciousness as: (1) determined by the metaphysical reality of the unit, and (2) as discovered and judged by the epistemology (= reason) of the rational consciousness. Thus to be objective is to hold to a dialectic philosophy that entangles metaphysics and epistemology.

Using these definitions one can see how beauty of a unit can be objective. Beauty is NEITHER only in the eye of the beholder NOR is it only in the object, but beauty is a dialectic--it is the objective superposition of the object as a thing (metaphysics) as judged (epistemology) as a unit by the rational beholder. This is how I see it, fire away with comments.

Can an idea by beautiful? I'm thinking math here... but it would apply across the board.
That is, does objective apply only to physical objects of perception?

 

[Rade]

Can an idea by beautiful? I'm thinking math here... but it would apply across the board.That is, does objective apply only to physical objects of perception?

Well sure an idea can be beautiful. Consider the Einstein Field Equation of General Relativity: [Rµv – ½ gµv R] = [8 pi Tµv]. The left side of the equation describes how the geometry of spacetime is warped and curved by matter--the right side of equation describes the movement of matter in the gravitational field. As stated by physicist John Wheeler, "matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved space tells matter how to move". This idea, this equation, is objectively beautiful--it is, as I defined in previous post " a sense of harmony of parts of a unit as viewed by the rational consciousness". Here is what Einstein wrote to a friend, Heinrich Zangger, on Nov. 26, 1915 after it was published---"The theory is of incomparable beauty".

 

[minorwork]

Some go with a gut feeling, an emotional response. Others a mental reaction.
I think some comparison to the Sapir Whorf hypothesis might make an interesting paper.

 

[JoeDawg]

Well sure an idea can be beautiful.

Thats not addressing my question. What you are saying here is that the relationship that exists in nature is beautiful. The equation is not that, the equation is just a symbolic description of part of what exists in nature. And by its very nature your equation is incomplete as it does not fully describe nature. It is therefore not in harmony with 'reality'.

It represents one point of view on nature, which is not objective in any sense. Representations are inherently subjective, since they demand a point of view.

 

[Brin]

I think beauty is objective in the sense that it is subjective.

Objective in an empirical sense in that it could probably be defined per person based off of some physical aspects regarding their brains, and how they perceive with their likes and dislikes. However it is subjective in the sense that it does differ from person to person depending on their dispositions.

 

[minorwork]

Can an idea by beautiful? I'm thinking math here... but it would apply across the board.
That is, does objective apply only to physical objects of perception?

A song can make me tear up. Bucky Covington's A Different World
Modern jazz can make me tear up the stereo.

Math might be perfectly capable of making someone come to tears and if so I would say it must be beautiful. Very subjective thing. What makes me want to puke, like 200 lashes for a victim of gang rape, no! Not beautiful.

 

[Rade]

Thats not addressing my question. What you are saying here is that the relationship that exists in nature is beautiful. The equation is not that, the equation is just a symbolic description of part of what exists in nature. And by its very nature your equation is incomplete as it does not fully describe nature. It is therefore not in harmony with 'reality'. It represents one point of view on nature, which is not objective in any sense. Representations are inherently subjective, since they demand a point of view.

No, I am saying that BOTH the equation (which represents the unit) and the relationship (which represents the thing) are beautiful and that this interaction is what makes the concept of beauty objective. Einstein's equation is in perfect harmony with "reality", there is nothing "subjective" about the General Theory of Relativity.

 

[octelcogopod]

Well, I would say that the answer to this question lies in the brain.
Why do humans see things as beautiful, how does the brain do it, and what empirical implications does this have?

I like color by itself, just a pretty color alone or in contrast to other colors, why this is I don't know but I feel drawn to look at it.

 

[ripcurl1016]

It is universal that everyone desires beauty, perfection, equality...These things along with goodness and morals have no natural place in this universe. There is nothing one can say is absolutely perfect equal or good. But if there is nothing to compare these things to, how can we desire them, or recollect knowledge of an equal or a perfect or of beauty. But I think at a fundamental level of the fabric of space and time these values exist in our subconscious. For naturally but unknowingly or unwillingly our subconscious would guide us towards what is right, what is just, the vary principles of what god stands for. And these pre-existing knowledge’s exist in every one of us. So God, as creator, the perfect being, beauty, and subconscious mind embody the same things. God is our subconscious minds existing in all of us perhaps.

 

[Hillary88]

Well sure an idea can be beautiful. Consider the Einstein Field Equation of General Relativity: [Rµv – ½ gµv R] = [8 pi Tµv]. The left side of the equation describes how the geometry of spacetime is warped and curved by matter--the right side of equation describes the movement of matter in the gravitational field. As stated by physicist John Wheeler, "matter tells spacetime how to curve, and curved space tells matter how to move". This idea, this equation, is objectively beautiful--it is, as I defined in previous post " a sense of harmony of parts of a unit as viewed by the rational consciousness". Here is what Einstein wrote to a friend, Heinrich Zangger, on Nov. 26, 1915 after it was published---"The theory is of incomparable beauty".

But still... seeing these ideas or objects as harmonious as described above is undeniably subjective and personal, right?

 

[al-mahed]

pi/4 = 1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9 - 1/11 +... ==> beauty is objective

 

[Andre]

Also, there is the Milli-Helen, the (pseudo) unit of beauty.

A milli-Helen is the amount of beauty that can launch a single ship.

Source: http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/clas101/troy.htm Trojan war, queen Helen, renowned for her beauty, was kidnapped, her husband king Menelaus of Sparta had 1000 ships launched to get her back.

 

[Hillary88]

pi/4 = 1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9 - 1/11 +... ==> beauty is objective

What exactly does this equation represent? Sorry for the ignorance guys, but it seems that if you are referring to the equation as a whole as beautiful, then that opinion is the result of the subjective nature of beauty; if you are referring to the result as a unit of beauty, then explain why our limited perception of these variables enables us to determine their beauty/harmony?

But I have no idea what I'm talking about with this equation so please do shut me down.

 

[Rade]

But still... seeing these ideas or objects as harmonious as described above is undeniably subjective and personal, right?

No, that is my point.

Again, from my first post here are my working definitions:

Beauty is a sense of harmony of parts of a unit as viewed by the rational consciousness

A Unit is a thing held in the consciousness as being a member of a group of two or more similar members (thus what exists is not the unit but the thing)

When some"thing" (as viewed as a unit by consciousness) is seen as being harmonious (such as the GR equation of Einstein), there is nothing subjective involved--it is a pure objective experience between the harmonious object and your consciousness. You cannot undo the harmonious reality of GR Theory by how you feel about it. It is the difference between saying 'this person is 6 feet tall' and 'I like tall people'. The GR equation of Einstein is an objective idea as is the statement about the height of the person, but it is also a beautiful idea because it describes a sense of harmony between members of a group--matter and space.

I'm sure you have seen overlook areas while driving where random people stop to look at some natural site--why did someone make this a place to stop ?--why do people leave with a sense of seeing something of beauty ? It is because the view itself has an internal objective harmony of many, many things interacting as a whole (such as colors, shapes, rocks, trees, birds, etc) that resonates with any human consciousness as the concept called "beauty". These highway stops are a prime example of objective beauty in action for humans in general.

An act of kindness that you witness can be a thing of objective beauty to you. Why ? There is an internal harmony between the self and other of the two people involved, and you can relate that beauty to how you as a self interact with others around you. I think this a nice way for any specific human to experience the personal rapture of objective beauty.

 

[al-mahed]

What exactly does this equation represent? Sorry for the ignorance guys, but it seems that if you are referring to the equation as a whole as beautiful, then that opinion is the result of the subjective nature of beauty; if you are referring to the result as a unit of beauty, then explain why our limited perception of these variables enables us to determine their beauty/harmony?

But I have no idea what I'm talking about with this equation so please do shut me down.

I think that beauty is patterns and symmetries, it is proved that beauty people have simmetric faces, bodys, etc... math is beautyfull because of that... this is what that equation represents, a pattern

 

[minorwork]

So good art is beautiful?

 

[al-mahed]

So good art is beautiful?

the question is: what is "good" art? why some paint is beautiful?

 

[Shaun Culver]

This video by David Deutsch would interest you:

http://www.qubit.org/people/david/index.php?path=Video/Why Are Flowers Beautiful

 

[cuddles]

Hmm..I'd rather take a more humble, empirical approach:
We might regard those elements/features of the world as objectively (or at least intersubjectively) beautiful that all humans find beautiful.

I.e. "objective beauty" is a statistical extreme on a spectrum ending in the other extreme of "objective ugliness".

What makes you believe only humans have a sense of beauty? Taken into consideration all other possible systems which have a sense of beauty. The intersection of all their sets which contain the elements which they find beautiful would be the empty one by all chance.

 

[quantum4577]

beauty is an opinon that has been greatly influnced. i remeber a poem about a man who found beauty in the eye's of a skunk. he gave them to his wife, and it ends there. we can imagine that he could not influnce her belif that skunks are pretty, so he sleeped on the couch. overall, it is a matter of opinon and also is a way of seeing how healthy you are, and how well of a child raier/gurdian of your children they i will be. there is a reson the nerd is not attractive.

 

[belliott4488]

Have any of you guys read the book "Why Beauty is Truth" by the mathematician Ian Stewart? It's subtitled "A History of Symmetry" and it traces the historical development of mathematical ideas of symmetry - which is very interesting in and of itself - but also addresses the question of why many thinkers - Physicists in particular - feel drawn to "beautiful" equations, even going so far as to use beauty as a measure of the "correctness" of a result (like the Einstein equation cited in an earlier post).

I find it compelling, and always have. For a long time I've believed that the idea of mathematical beauty has to do with the simplicity with which complex ideas can be stated, once we have developed our understanding to a point where we can do so - often as a result of discovering symmetries, as Stewart suggests.

My favorite example is the Maxwell Equations of classical E&M. When Maxwell first wrote them down, he wrote eight equations, three each for the components of the E and B fields, and one each for what we know as the scalar equations. Once we developed an understanding of vectors, we reduced these to the four equations (two vector and two scalar) that we learn in elementary Physics, but the notion of vector spaces requires an awareness of rotational symmetry. Later we get the relativistically covariant form of the equations, which allows them to be reduced to two equations in 4-d spacetime, thanks to our awareness of the Lorentz symmetry. Finally, if we take advantage of gauge symmetry we can even summarize the original eight equations by one very simple equation (plus a definition of the E&M fields in term of the potential field).

The point is that the equations become simpler, more concise, and to most eyes more beautiful, as we understand more of the symmetries that underlie the Physics. It is that understanding that allows us to consolidate previously distinct quantities into single entities (e.g. the single E/M field vs. separate but related fields).

I believe that we are drawn to beauty in our mathematical descriptions precisely because greater beauty comes from deeper understanding.

 

[Boy@n]

Beautiful thread. :)

...greater beauty comes from deeper understanding.

This is almost exactly my comprehension of what word "beauty" represents, to which I came via my personal experience with "something" I call "Ultimate Beingness" or "Ultimate Beautifulness".


I'd put it this way "The more one is aware the more beauty one experiences."

Greater awareness gives rise to greater mental understandings and deeper feeling of universal love (love for self and for all that which exists).

And yes, awareness & understanding is a two way street, the more we learn and the more we let ourselves feel the connection with everything, the more aware we become.

Knowledge is stored in our brains, while awareness is a property of our soul, as is feeling of universal love.

Existence just seems to be a of a dualistic nature ala what Yin-Yang symbol represents, in most fundamental sense Yin-Yang is Awareness and Love, but ultimately it's a single thing, it's Aware-Love. The dualistic nature appears due to various states of awareness. In Ultimate Awareness all becomes One, while in relative and limited awareness all-present love is experienced by limitations of own unique perception.



And to answer the main question: "Is beauty objective?", I'd say:

Beauty is objective (temporarily absolute) to one perceiving it, while it can be subjective (relative) when that experience is shared with others. Again, beauty is directly related to awarenes of one perceiving it.


Sorry, if this goes a bit away from the topic, but to truly understand "beauty", at least the way I do, I had to write all this.

 

[moving finger]

Beauty is objective (temporarily absolute) to one perceiving it

This statement is (to me) an oxymoron - but it depends on your definition of "absolute". As with so many things, definition of terms is critical to understanding.

One definition of absolute (there are many to choose from) is, for example : "independent of arbitrary standards of measurement"

If something is absolute, then (by the above definition of absolute) it is independent of an arbitrary perspective/reference point.

In contrast, if something depends on an arbitrary perspective/reference point (as in your example - ie "to one perceiving it"), then it cannot (by definition) be absolute.

 

[Boy@n]

You are right - word "absolute" is a "difficult" one, and I did try to be careful on how I use it...

As I said, perception of beauty is absolute to the perceiver (to current state of awareness/understandings/feelings), not absolute in the universal way. (You'll see bellow why I don't agree with "your" definition of word absolute.)

Also, note that I used term "temporarily absolute", with which I meant that even if it's absolute to the perceiver at the moment, in some other moment it might be different, since awareness is not fixed, but kinda slightly fluid. Well, I think awareness alone doesn't change much in a short period of time, but perception of one depends way more than just on current personal (soul's) awareness, it also depends on current state of body (and we know how many things can affect our health and beingness, be it of internal or external origin) and brains (mainly personal thinking capacity & quality, and personal ability in how well we memorize things).

Note also, that none can truly/absolutely prove anything to anyone. We cannot even prove our own very existence to anyone else except to ourselves, and ultimately, it's not proving which matters, but how we "feel" about it. In this sense we could say that...

Our very existence is absolute to us, but relative to others.

I don't think that anything can be "independent of arbitrary standards of measurement", which was shown even in Physic, if I recall correctly, e.g. the one who's just observing the experiment affects the experiment itself (if it's true on quantum level it's also true on any level, even though we might not notice it).

So, nothing in real life is truly/absolutely objective, but always subjective.