Beauty is a complex idea that has influenced philosophers and artists for centuries. Its associations with power and its ecstatic pleasures are often problematic, which might explain why the topic was almost entirely neglected for most of the twentieth century, although it is now becoming more prominent in philosophy concerned with social justice and other issues.
The ancient treatments of beauty tend to emphasize its aesthetic qualities, describing the experience of beauty as “a delight and a trouble, a sweetness and a pain, a longing and a trembling” (Plotinus, Ennead I, 3). The classic conception treats beauty as a relation among the beautiful object and its parts: the parts should stand in the right proportion to each other, forming an integrated harmonious whole. This approach found its most explicit articulation in the art of the Italian Renaissance.
More recent treatments of beauty have attempted to temper this subjective element. Hume and Kant, for example, argued that beauty is not something intrinsically good but rather simply pleasurable. However, these accounts are generally dismissed by modern scholars, who point out that beauty has a much more complicated relationship with the objects of our senses. They argue that people are not merely assessing the sensory and formal properties of a work of art but also bringing other factors into play, such as historical and cultural context.
Aristotle’s approach to beauty was Christianized by Thomas Aquinas, who connected the experience of beauty to God’s own beauty. He gave three requirements for beauty: integrity, proper proportion, and clarity. This approach treats beauty as a quality that connects people and works of art in communities of appreciation. A work of art, for example, cannot have integrity if it violates its own rules of realism, such as by portraying a woman with three eyes. A cubist painting, on the other hand, might look realistic but contain some shockingly unrealistic elements and still have integrity.
In addition to these internal traits, a beautiful woman has an inner strength that allows her to overcome obstacles and keep moving forward. She has a passion for her pursuits, and she can light up a room with her infectious laughter. A beautiful woman also possesses an empathy for others, and she can easily put herself in other people’s shoes to better understand their feelings.
A beauty that is both external and internal will help a woman be more confident in her own skin. In other words, she knows that she is enough on her own and she doesn’t need a man to make her feel special. This confidence radiates throughout her body, and it attracts people to her. Rather than viewing her world as a war zone to be survived, she sees it as a colorful playground to be explored. However, it is important to remember that beauty has nothing to do with being the prettiest person in the room; it has everything to do with what is happening inside her heart.