October 21, 2005
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"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"...............................................................homily (or proverb)
"Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye"...................................................W.Shakespeare
'All the carnall beauty of my wife, Is but skin deep'..........................................Overbury
"Thus, beauty is of the divine, and comes thence only".................................Plotinus (On the Intellectual Beauty)
"In (the) history of philosophical thought the phenomenon of beauty has always proved to be one of the greater paradoxes"..............................................................................Ernst Cassirer (Art, from The Enneads)
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"--that is all : Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.".....................................................................................................................John Keats (Ode to a Gecian Urn)
"Whenever men begin to see Beauty in Truth, then true Art will arise"......Mohandas Ghandi (Truth and Beauty)
"Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."..................................................................................................................Ricky Fitts, in Sam Mendes' "American Beauty"
Throughout the history of critical and philosophical thought,countless essays have been written concerning the paradox of actually defining what is "beautiful", and by nature, what constitutes "art". I have always maintained that "art exists", and the artist merely frees the art from it's confines in the marble, on the paper or page, or movie or computer screen. Ernst Cassirer, writing in the Chapter "Art" from his "Essay on Man" in 1944 maintains in his conclusion to a lengthy historical and philosophical discouse that the notion of beauty remains quite paradoxical.
Art in the 21st Century has far surpassed the idea that it merely expresses beauty, but to "capture the essence of beauty" has long been the goal of the artist. John Keats distilled this idea in "Ode to a Grecian Urn" where the classic work of art proclaims that "Beauty is Truth." Many millions of words have been written by philosophers, pundits, and romantics trying to get a firm grasp of what would seem to be a simple concept. Cassirer disagrees with Keats, writing "If all beauty is truth, then all truth is necessarily not beauty."
Plotinus wrote that mankind always turns to the "outer" in his search for beauty, but that true beauty resides in the "inner". This was in 260. Beauty can represent a myriad of ideals to a myriad of souls, and as Overbury stated in 1613, in a homily that has survived generations, "beauty is only skin deep." Can beauty and ugly reside in the same hemisphere of appreciation. Is one the onus of the other, or are they blood brothers?
The old saw "Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder" seems to prove that each individual can ascertain and admire completely different forms of beauty, but the artist has to appeal to a mass audience, and all who admire a work of art should be able to bask in it's "beauty", or "representation of truth."
Beauty can be compartmentalized into natural, geologic, or humanly. Few would discount the notion that the sight of the Grand Canyon in Arizona is "beautiful." A raging hurricane can be beautiful. Some might contend that the destructive force behind the act of nature precludes any notion of beauty. But the mass of swirling clouds is amazingly striking to an onlooker. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen was an elderly black woman sitting on a bench in front of one of the gallery buildings at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. She was wearing a shawl that resembled a dashiki or other tribal garment. The many lines coursing across her face spoke of generations of history and life. Her eyes opened into the complete history of mankind. Each strand of her hair was a conduit through art and perception, beauty and truth sublime. I have always regretted that I did not have a camera, or did not attempt to sketch her shining visage. Some might see this "old woman" as "ugly". Are "ugly" and "beauty" in fact synonyms? Is this why some art is vastly appreciated by throngs of people who deride those who think they are crazy because of what they admire?
For every answer there is a succeeding question. This is what I have concluded in my search for the literal answer to the question of beauty. The standard of "Rubenesque" beauty pertaining to the female human form has morphed into a standard of beauty epitomized by the model Twiggy in the mid 60s. All the runway models in the early 21st century seem to be anorexic. Personally, I find bony knees and arms a complete anaesthetic to beauty, but this certainly has not stalled the fashion industry, which thrives on the public's embrace of this concept du jour.
As Ghandi proclaims, when man sees beauty in truth, wherever it may be, then art is created. Art is the representation of beauty, and sometimes beauty is ugly. Two critics can view the same work of art, and disagree upon whether or not they see beauty represented. Beauty is schizophrenic in this regard. Each notion of beauty can be discounted. And also an assessment of decay and dilapidation could for another set of eyes be the most beautiful scene in experience. If a creative type views this dilapidation as art, and recreates it, then for some it will remain beautiful, and to some it will remain ugly.
The soul of beauty is perception. The actual representaton of beauty is to show the truth. Thus beauty is truth.
And then one could argue what is truth? And that's surely the subject of another blog article.
This essay was prompted by a topic question on the blogring "The Socrates Cafe", run by philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Readers might enjoy my musings on "The Philosophy of Art" in the "Yes, But is it Art? Gallery" on my website AllThingsMike. MFN 10/20
EDIT: 10/21: 4:48am: From comments: "So from your post, I understand that anyone or anything can be beautiful, if it portrays truth? Is this what you're saying?".....Simone de Beauvoir.
My prognosis would be that perhaps this is so, but with a caveat. I can remember when a lad, I spied two snails in coitus in my mother's garden. They were "connected" by some strange white cord, and they were oozing some sort of bubbly substance. I was a child, very protected and nurtured by my parents, and not privy to the ways or the means of the corporeal world. I thought the site was the most horrible thing I'd ever seen, but as a natural event, this is surely a wonderful creation of God's paradise. "Anything" from your comment, cannot "portray" truth, in order to "become" beautiful. "Beauty", like "art", "exists". The defining of the term, or the slivers of perception that provide a conclusion that one "thing" or "event" is beautiful, while another is not, is purely "in the eye of the beholder." I included the quote from the film "American Beauty" because I always thought that Ricky's observation was very profound. He is describing a video he has shot of an empty plastic bag (a piece of "trash" , ergo, "ugly") floating in the breeze. His character can detect the "beauty" in this moment, and he is explaining that the beauty around him sometimes seems to cause his heart to cave in. When I sit, motionless, observing the sun setting into the sea, at the end of a "beautiful" day, a moment I always call "God's Movie", I am overwhelmed by the concept of "natural beauty". Man exists in beauty as well, a natural, unblemished beauty. Nobody can doubt that the sight of a newly born infant is "beautiful." But what comes next, during life, where man attempts to "sculpture" his own form into more "beauteous" a creation, then he is by design "mutilating" nature, and perhaps his restructuring of his own form in art, or as a "model" for art is in fact beauteous, or perhaps it is in fact ill advised and sort of ugly. Yin. Yang. Plus. Minus. Good. Bad. Black. White. It is the labeling that can get "ugly." The beauty always exists. I believe that the conclusion, is, that each answer, as I have stated, merely opens more questions. This is why the question has lain unanswered in point of fact for this long a time. "Beauty" doesn't "portray" "truth." It "is" truth, as Keats proclaimed. "Art" attempts to "portray" "beauty". Whether or not it succeeds is up to the individual's perceptions of the subject. This question is really a moibus strip of thought. MFN (ppf)
Comments (27)
I dunno...truth's too slippery a concept, and beauty, while, that's all up to perception.
Deep thoughts. It's too late at night for that. I'll probably come back.
"Each strand of her hair was a conduit through art and perception, beauty and truth sublime."
You have a way with words!
~Suzanne
i feel somewhat ashamed to leave such an asshat'ish comment here...but since i've had the long week i've had and my ability to focus and read and reply coherently is diminished...the first thing i thought i read was "beauty is in the eye of the bladder".
yeah.
i need some sleep apparently.
bonne soir, Mike
B
Man, I am so over my head on this subject! lol, I have come to the conclusion that I am the really dumb "hanger on" in the cafe, cause all of the rest of you have such wonderfully deep thoughts! Me, I just "tell stories", that is my forte, I make no apologies, well most of the time, sometimes like today, I feel I must apologize my dumbness.
RYC: I am incognito, but Sarah is indeed my daughter, if you go all the way back to my first post on this site you will see an entire post on her, and the reason I started this second site with an "incognito" pic and ID. By the way, I am marraied to a "bald Mike". I had a recent post on him as well, comparing him to Homer Simpson, but in a good way! lol
Mike..you know me...I was Miashine on xanga...short for mia lucia...then I decided I lacked the self discipline to budget my time and deleted my xanga account..(what I do at home is important enough so that if i don't tend to it my son's needs are not met so I had to take the tme issue seriously.).then i felt really stupid..and actually got less work done stewing over my poor plan to fix my time management problem...soooo I got back on xanga,,but since you can't get your moniker back..well I became Miashineon...and so do we all
. i have been pleased with Socrate's Cafe... I rarely try to direct my own thinking in a disciplined way and its been good for me to try.as to time management..yawn ..well its like when i was in college..sleep less yawn more..and keep a pot of coffee freshly brewed in the day.
Seems like a lot of modern art is about anything BUT beauty.
The rose you used as a visual is ..well dern it beautiful. It pleases me that other people also see beauty in things and in people who don't meet the conventional criteria.
Beauty is perception
Perception is everything, (written before your conclusion)
To put it generally.
If one piece of art is a piece of beauty, then art is only a piece of beauty.
We create beauty and therefore it is in us.
Of course I’m not as well versed in such matters as you, but I feel that I am a fairly philosophical individual.
"Can beauty and ugly reside in the same hemisphere of appreciation?" What is Yin and Yang?
Can a lie be beautiful too?
Life is beauty. Life is everything. Life is.
If you respond to this, I shall read more of your well-put writings.
The Fairly Abstract Pirate: Randa!!
I have stopped by several times in hopes that my brain will come up with something more intelligent than what a flea might say....but I seem to not have the ability...interesting points and thoughts. Thanks for contributing.
Well, if I'm going to break my oath of neutrality, it may as well be on something so innocuous as beauty. Your idea of truth as beauty is very intriguing, and I would have to agree that when I see the truth of a piece of art, when I understand it's meaning, then I often can see the beauty OF it. However, the beauty OF it and the subject being beautiful are different ideas to me.
So from your post, I understand that anyone or anything can be beautiful, if it portrays truth? Is this what you're saying? Because that's a very intense thought, and very thought-provoking as well. Great post.
Pulled your page and got side tracked with other stuff. Been sitting open here for quite some time now. This is a very good entry Mike, well researched, well thought out, and articulated very well. You covered a lot of things in this, and even the way you formated it is beautiful! I like this line "The soul of beauty is perception. The actual representaton of beauty is to show the truth. Thus beauty is truth." That one caused me to ask some questions like whose truth? if beauty is truth as you have shown us than whose truth is beauty? (not asking you just enjoying the pursuit it took me on!) You made me walk away from this thinking! I had to read it twice! Love it. I liked the last question you posed as well "What is truth?" And then there is this from your post that I discovered in drilling down on my own entry "For every answer there is a succeeding question." So very true indeed. Really good stuff Mike!
~Namaste, T.L.
:goodjob:
Mike thats a wonderful post. i see how much work you put it and how well it came out.
I 'tjhrew' mine up.
I like that you used quotes , then deciphered them as to explain beauty.
I am going to reread this again too, Im half asleep and want to read it fully awake.
Peace and Love:)
I wish too you could have gotten a picture of the black woman.
Hi Mike. The neurostimulator for pain management is an awesome thing for someone who has chronic debilitating pain. The thing that's the best about it is they have been implanting pain pumps for years into terminal patients, but it still delivers addictive medicines. This is totally non-medicinal. http://www.medtronic.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Medtronic/Website/StageArticle&ConditionName=Chronic+Back+and%2For+Leg+Pain&Stage=Treatment&Article=bpain_art_mdt_neurostim
This will be the first battery change for him. He's had the implant just short of two years, and this was the "trial" to see how long batteries will last. Some people have to have them changed once a year, others get 3-5 years out of them. J is heavy-use, 24 hours a day 7 days a week, so he is 100% of the time. They hoped he would get 2 years out of a battery. This is pretty close. It's still in trials in many clinics, so that's why it's so darn hard to get this done. It's still considered experimental, and covered only on a case-by-case basis. Seems like they'd rather write you 'scripts for Oxycontin than fix the problem... In any event, I think without it, he might not even be here anymore. You can't live for that long with that kind of pain.
Mike, I do indeed know who you are, without question. When I think of you I think of the highly intelligent man who writes as quickly as his mind thinks and always does a lot of thinking on his pages and usually over my head. No matter, I see some of what you write in comments and now I am here at your blog. It was I who suggested you as a writer Simone should try to tap into her Socrates ring. I suggested a couple of others as well, Twoberry and Leonidas. I know each of you can be the best of contributors to the forum. I am making an attempt at being a contributor but not from this blog. I have to keep my entries in their proper drawers so to speak.
You asked how I was doing. I am keeping very busy. I am part owner of a yahoo group for graphics. That came about as an accident but I am glad I am there. I have 5 Xanga that I play in but have no intent of more though thinking about it, I had no intent for what I now write in. I am taking an online html course. I will never be quick with it but I have learned and it was easier for me than some as I have played with the guts of pages for a long time. I love my photography and I love graphics and I love page making but have not the time for it all to do any of it as well as I would like. Growing older is not what I was hoping for. I am though, very happy as I have the best of partners to help me thru the rough spots and my family will be coming home soon from Spain, not that they will be in a less dangerous world. I think danger is now our middle name and we all have to be aware and praying for that "beauty" that the creator had in mind for all of us, "a perfect peace".
I did blog on the subject "Beauty" but it was tied in with "Animal Rights" and though it was not quite what you have here in your blog I believe we have some common ground though mine is stated much more simplistically.
Big hugs coming your way and you are a most welcome face in any of my blogs,
All that written and I forgot to comment on your blog. I did read it, all of it and I agree whole heartedly with what you have written though I had to study it to get it into my head.
My thoughts
1-Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
2-beauty is not always understood or recognized, and
3-much of the beauty of the world is unappreciated nor protected and is disappearing a piece at a time much to the detriment and final outcome of the health of the Earth.
4-physical beauty can be enhanced by face and body lift at great expense that most of us can't afford to pay for. If I had the money and were younger, I could be tempted to have some of the alterations but knowing what I know about the long term or what is truly of value I am not sure physical changes are what the individual needs as much as the population needs an about face as to seeing the inner person first over and above the outer shell. If that should occur and I don't think it will we both know the world would be so much the better off for it's inhabitants. I have seen some very unhappy individuals who I saw no real need for physical enhancements but who despised their looks because fashion has dictated the notion into their heads that they did not measure up to the beautiful. What a sad world we exist in that we have become the slaves to theives of not only our money but who have also robbed us of healthy attitudes.
Regards,
Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us on beauty........it is an intersting topic and you've giving me some things to stew on for awhile! I hadn't thought of beauty as truth & am not sure I agree because like you said we could argue on what was true for a very long time. How can something be based on truth when we don't know what truth is? I don't know....I think I'm like Akbo1955 and way over my head here!!
Beauty is definitely perception, to me. My now deceased companion, was beautiful. He was craggy and frail. Never once did I see that. What I always saw looking at him was the near Olympian "barefoot skiier" down the Brazos River, broad shouldered with wet curls.
Beauty is in my garden. The spiral of a canna leaf coming out, the caterpillars eating the dill down to little nubs.
Hugs. Come for a visit........Lana
Here's a question for you. You said that beauty is truth. You also gave an example of runway models and how the fashion industry's perception of what is beautiful. There are those things which people consider to be beautiful which change over time. Does this mean, beauty being truth, that the truth is also subjective?
I wrote up on animal rights, two different parts. Check it out if get a chance.
:goodjob:
I did reread this and see many things I missed.
Truth is beauty , beauty is truth. I find this to be feasible for sure.
And I feel beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We all see things beauty in differnt frms, bit physical and non physical.I really enjoyed you take on this subject.:)
RYC: Thanks , I thought about it and I dont want comments disabled, as you said, then no communication, which is on thing I really like about Xaaanga, interacting and responding to comments.
I apprecaite your friendship, Mike.
Also , I love your profile pic, you and Dean ~:fun:
Have a good weekend and peace and love to you
Sorry, my a is sticky!!
The edit that you've included on beauty is very thoughtful. I understand completely what you are trying to say about that snail, and the idea about artists portraying art, which is beauty, is very good. ryc: I've sent you an email as you've requested. I hope I've been able to correct my mistake to your satisfaction.
Last monday I blogged about INNER BEAUTY, I later read the blog on Socrates cafe, and this morning yours purely by chance as I am not subscribed to any of you ......yet! A beautiful week.......... Strange.
RITA.:sunny::sunny:
How about Beauty is a Beauty does?
Have you ever know a person who becomes more beautiful with each kind thing they do....
Or less attractive with each cruel one?
RYC: T.L. Short for T. L. LeXander my writing name and an amalgamation of my daughters names. A Christian name... you would laugh. Barbi. There you go. Feel better? ::kniW:: Just use B. That will suffice if T.L. doesn't work for you. Thank you for the nice things you said of my work and my pic. Not the first time I have been told I look younger than I am. Genetics, purely genetics, I've nothing to do with it. I will definitely take some time and read from your links. Thank you for sharing them with me. I won't delve into them at the moment because I have been too long at the pc today and this cold is a lulu. Take care of you and yours
~Namaste, T.L.
Thanks for your great comments! I love hearing from you, it always makes my day! As per your request I post my fanfiction on both of these websites. The first site includes all of my work for all the shows I've written for, while the second is only the work I've done for CSI, specifically for the relationship between Nick and Greg. Because the second site is so devoted to one show and one relationship on that show, that's where all of my best comments have been posted, and as you might note, Live and Love, my longest CSI piece to date, is the one everyone seems to love the most.
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/325920/QueenOfTheUniverse
http://www.nickandgreg.com/desert_archive/viewuser.php?uid=850
And, if you do feel inclined, my original work(not including my three novels) is posted here:
http://www.fictionpress.com/~QueenOfTheUniverse
And of course, your entry on beauty was most interesting! There are many things, not just the topic of beauty, that has no straight answer because it all depends on who you ask, and what they like/dislike or what they believe/don't believe. People look for one answer to these questions, one answer that blankets everything, and it's just not there because it depends on so many different variables. It's like my extremely odd interest in towing cars. Someone else would find it boring to watch a tow truck. I still don't know why I find it so interesting because it's so odd, and I feel like I should find it boring. Who knows. Just bring me the popcorn!
-QL
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