Beauty is a quality in a person, place or object that makes it pleasurable to look at. It is contrasted with ugliness, which is undesirable.
A beautiful person is one who is pleasing to the eye and possesses good health, confidence and determination.
The definition of beauty varies widely between different people and over time, as well. It is an idea that has been debated and pondered by philosophers from Plato to modern neuro-psychological studies.
What is Beauty?
According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of beauty is “a combination of qualities such as shape, color or form that pleases the aesthetic senses.” The concept of beauty is often associated with art and taste. The word “beauty” is derived from the French beauté, meaning “pleasant” or “appealing.”
Some examples of beauty include the sunset and mountains. Others are the symmetry of an object’s form or the symmetrical patterns of human bodies.
Many of us have been influenced by what we see in magazines or by trends in fashion and culture. We might have heard people say, “a woman with perfect lips and a flawless complexion is beautiful.” Or we might be influenced by celebrities and models.
If you have a problem with your appearance or are a victim of body dysmorphia, consider looking at other women’s images to get some inspiration on how to feel more comfortable in your own skin. Then, take the time to think about how you can reshape your own body and mind to be more attractive.
A beautiful life comes from the inside out.
Often, we are so focused on our outer appearance that we don’t take the time to work on our inner self. If you want to be more attractive, start by opening up your soul to a world full of creativity and personality.
When you do, you’ll find that you naturally have beauty that can be seen in your face and body. Instead of thinking that you are not attractive because your hair is not blonde or your eyes are blue, remember that your soul can be as stunning as anyone else’s.
The idea of a unified theory of beauty was once considered an important part of philosophy. Various philosophers, from Plato to Kant, argued about whether the beautiful was an objective property of something or if it was a subjective concept.
In the classical world, beauty was thought to be a phenomenon arising from the harmony and proportion of parts. The ‘forms’ of the universe, for example, were believed to reflect these qualities.
But when we begin to examine the history of the concept of beauty, we are confronted with a more diverse array of possibilities. From the 18th century, with its post-Enlightenment confidence in human capability, emergent sense of inalienable rights and burgeoning cultures of feeling, we began to question some of these traditions.
For example, the philosopher Edmund Burke rejected the idea that beauty could be derived from a set of qualities such as harmony or proportion. He wrote, “Beauty is a collection of qualities made meaningful only insofar as they act on the human mind through the senses.”