When most people hear the word beauty, they think of a pretty face, a nice dress or maybe something that makes a room more inviting. But it’s a complex concept that extends far beyond our visual sense. Beauty has been a subject of interest for philosophers, writers and artists, but it also influences our behavior in ways that we might not expect. For instance, research shows that attractive people tend to be more confident and trusting than others. Beauty also plays a role in our relationships and how we treat the people around us.
For the Ancient Greeks, beauty was a matter of order and symmetry. They saw beauty in nature, like the sloping lines of an oak tree or the proportions of a woman’s figure as depicted in a painting by Botticelli. They even created a formula for beauty, the golden ratio, which is found in many structures including nature and art.
While these ancient views of beauty are interesting, they’re not particularly useful today because they don’t help us understand how and why we find things beautiful. Moreover, the idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder suggests that our individual tastes and preferences are the only valid definition of what is beautiful. This is problematic because it can lead to extremes such as snobbery and superficiality.
Philosophers from diverse disciplines have attempted to define beauty in terms of function and utility. For example, the philosopher William James argued that beauty is in how things make you feel, rather than just in what they look like. This is a good way to avoid falling into the trap of relativism, but it doesn’t fully save beauty from the charge of subjectivism either because it focuses solely on emotional response.
Other philosophers, such as Kant, tried to rescue beauty from Hume’s skepticism by emphasizing rational aspects of the experience. However, this approach doesn’t work well either because it relegates beauty to the realm of the aesthetic and excludes all forms of functional and utilitarian beauty.
The most compelling argument for a utilitarian view of beauty comes from science. The field of evolutionary psychology explains that the traits that are most often seen as beautiful are those that indicate health, vitality and fertility. Beauty is thus tied to survival and reproduction, which are important human needs.
In addition to being a source of pleasure, beauty can also give meaning to our lives. Philosopher Michael Spicher, who is our guest on this episode of The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe, argues that beauty can be a basic reason for action. Beauty, he says, has the potential to inspire us to create things that we might not have otherwise created.
If you want to learn more about beauty, check out this podcast with Brandon or read our interview with Michael. And, if you have questions for our guests, leave them in the comments below! We might answer them in an upcoming episode.