Defines Beauty in the World Today

Defines Beauty in the World Today

Beauty is widely defined as a mental or aesthetic quality of things that makes these things aesthetically pleasing to see. These things include sunsets, nature, humans and beautiful works of art. Beauty, along with aesthetic appreciation, is probably the most important theme of aesthetics, arguably the central topic of aesthetics, among the many branches of philosophy. There are many differing definitions of beauty that include a cultural and political understanding of beauty.

For the most part, beauty can be seen in the natural world. This has become especially true in the last few decades with the rise of modern environmentalism. Aesthetics, however, has also included an element of politics. The fight for environmental preservation has been accompanied by an aesthetic desire to beautify our planet. While the aim of beauty is subjective, the desire to beautify is objective.

Beauty, in the broadest sense, defines beauty through what is considered to be the aesthetically pleasurable experience one can have with the materials, other than oneself, that beautifies the object. This list includes beauty in nature, human excellence, beauty within the self, and beauty in the combination with others. Beauty is subjective; while some people may find beauty in unique natural occurrences, such as ocean waves, and others may find beauty in the contours of a geometrical form, like a pyramid, others may find beauty in the lines of a chalkboard, or in the splendor of snow-covered mountain peaks. Aesthetics as a whole often seek to unite the many disparate strands of aesthetic perception into a single definition of beauty.