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Perception of Beauty

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Plato had a rationalist view, and referred to beauty as objective in that it was not localized in response of the beholder.

But, should we think of beauty as having a more empiricist quality, being a relative assessment that lies in the eyes of the beholder, stemming from our sensory experiences? If this is our belief, then we could conclude that beauty can be created through a subjective judgment. Meaning that each individual decides what is beautiful to them, or not.

But, watching the transformation of the model below, could lead us to believe that the overall thoughts of media in society would coincide with the objective perception of Plato. Consistently trying to persuade us to ascertain and become the pattern or form that transforms us into beautiful. And with beauty as an objective feature, we can assume that the majority of us will coincide in our perceived patterns and forms of said beauty.

 So…...
Could Beauty be both objective and subjective? After all, individuals tend to coincide with their perceptions of beauty as well as differ in perceptions of beauty.
No matter what, the statement can be made that an individual’s attraction to another person’s body increases if that body is symmetrical and in proportion.

Meaning, that there are certain aesthetical traits that could be involved in promotion of the perception of beauty.

I myself would say that there is a higher meaning to beauty that cannot be explained simply through either a subjective or objective perspective, and that beauty has to be defined by “the eye of the beholder”.

Unfortunately the perception of beauty at times can create an artificial element used to mutate natural beauty as we see in media today.

Is This Beauty?

The skewed vision of beauty through the use of digital enhancement programs has increasingly been exposed. Click on the link above, a model has put her bare face and body on display to show in real time how such enhancement might look as it completely transforms her appearance before our very eyes, spurring questions about “real beauty” and its perception.

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