Beauty is a concept that has influenced art, music, and architecture from classical to modern times. It is a way to define what is important and worth preserving. In a world where AI is making great strides in design, it is worth understanding the importance of beauty and how designers can use it to create work that is both beautiful and useful.
Throughout human history, beauty has been related to goodness. This idea of beauty being good is reflected in many ancient works of art, as well as in contemporary works by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Vincent Van Gogh.
The ancient Greeks were particularly fond of relating beauty to goodness. They believed that beauty was a way to express and understand one’s true self and nature. In particular, they saw that beauty is a sign of purity, which in turn is a reflection of one’s moral character and integrity.
Another conception of beauty is that of symmetry, proportion, and harmony. This is a conception of beauty that is prevalent in classical and neo-classical architecture, sculpture, and literature. It is a conception that has been shaped by many philosophers over time, most significantly Aristotle.
According to Aristotle, beauty consists in the arrangement of integral parts into a coherent whole. In other words, beauty is an aspect of the structure of the universe.
This concept of beauty is a Platonic conception that is found in the writings of Aristotle, Plato, and other ancient Greek philosophers. It is also a conception that was embraced by many early Western philosophers, including Kant, Leibniz, and Hume.
Although Aristotle’s conception of beauty is still a prevalent one today, it is not the only way to view beauty. Other concepts of beauty are often considered to be equally valid and have their own distinct meanings.
These definitions can range from a simple conception of beauty as being an object that is harmonious and attractive, to a more complex conception of beauty as something that is pleasing to the eye or the mind. It can even be a way to describe an abstract concept, such as love or the human soul.
Regardless of the conception, all these views share an important common feature: they are in some sense subjective and ascriptions of pleasure. This distinction can be a major issue in aesthetic theory, as it allows us to determine the level of abstraction that constitutes beauty.
A similar approach can be seen in the works of George Santayana, who wrote in his essay “On Beauty,” that beauty is ‘objectified pleasure’: that is, it is a response to a particular kind of pleasure induced by an object. He also makes a point of distinguishing between beauty that is subjective and those that are objectively pleasing.
Santayana’s view of beauty carries a lot of subjectivist tendencies with it, which can be especially problematic in the context of aesthetic theory. However, this approach has some merits, as it allows us to see beauty in a new light.