In the last century, there has been a renewed interest in beauty, fueled by feminist reconstruals and reappropriations (see the links at the end of this article). Some of these efforts have tried to find a way to reconcile the notions of objective and subjective beauty. One prominent account, influenced by evolutionary theory, is the work of philosopher Denis Dutton.
The most basic quality that something must possess to be considered beautiful is that it give pleasure. Admiring an attractive face, picturesque sunset or magnificent building triggers a chemical reward in the brain. This pleasure is what distinguishes beauty from mere ugliness or utilitarianism.
Aesthetic theories of beauty have long tried to determine what that pleasure is. Most notably, philosophers such as Hume and Kant attempted to temper the purely subjective enjoyment of beauty by stressing its transcendental character. The fusion of opposites that the beautiful accomplishes—order and irregularity in a painting, the merger of toil and relaxation in an object, or the balance of concentration and repose in the beholder—synthesize the ideal of an elevated and enduring human experience.
In the twentieth century, physicists and philosophers have also tried to determine what is beautiful in a more scientific manner. Semir Zeki, a professor of neuroaesthetics at University College London, has found that certain colors and patterns elicit a more intense pleasure than others. He claims that this is because the beautiful has a special resonance with our evolutionary history. The beauty of the blue sky and white clouds, for example, is a reflection of the symmetry of our planet’s elements, which we evolved to recognize as beautiful.
Other scholars have tended to view beauty as an intrinsic property of objects rather than of people or ideas. Aristotle’s concept of beauty, for instance, posited that an object is beautiful if it is harmonious and proportional, with each part serving the purpose of the whole. This is the kind of beauty that would make a vase as well-suited for holding flowers as it was for carrying water. The Christian philosopher Thomas Aquinas interpreted this as a divine quality.
More recently, the psychologist and philosopher Richard Wiseman has focused on how the brain perceives beauty. He has discovered that there is a very simple mechanism for recognizing beautiful objects. It is triggered by the same neural circuits that are activated when we eat, drink and sleep. The fact that these neural pathways are shared among species suggests that we are genetically predisposed to appreciate beauty. Moreover, the ability to detect beauty is a universal human trait, regardless of culture or language.