Beauty – A Concept

Beauty is commonly defined as a subjective quality of things that makes these things enjoyable to see. These things include sunsets, landscapes, beautiful humans and creative works of art. Beauty, along with aesthetic taste and knowledge, is perhaps the most important part of aesthetics, probably the most important branch of humanities, one of the few major branches of science. It can be said that beauty is essentially the most basic needs of human beings, it is our need to be attracted by things that are pleasant to look at. Beauty therefore is intimately connected with affect, with feelings. This has to do with the way in which beauty relates to and affects us.

In the late nineteenth century, aesthetic beauty had been criticized by some philosophers for being based on an emotional response and for having no objective foundation. However, some recent research suggests that beauty, even in its most intangible form, can have a direct effect on human emotions and feelings. The results were reported in the early twentieth century by Sigmund Freud, who argued that people develop certain attitudes and expectations about beauty depending on their upbringing and on the values they have been raised under. Freud then proceeded to explain that the desire for beauty is the core of artistic creation.

However, many may worry about the nature of beauty. One worry may be that there is something inherently bad or ugly about everything. Beauty however is subjective, and it is up to each person to decide what is beautiful for him or her. One could argue that all beauty is subjective, and what makes a person beautiful to one person may not necessarily be beauty to another. Nevertheless, a person should always try to look aesthetically appealing, and should pay attention to his or her appearance on a daily basis, particularly when meeting new people or trying to impress others.