Beauty is also known as pulcrum. It is a transcendental perfection, which results from esse or the act of being. There are different degrees of being, the vegetative life (plants), the sentient life (animals) and the rational life (human persons); beauty’s variety and richness depends on the different degrees of being.

Beauty has different levels depending on the subject from which it transcends; intelligible beauty directly is attached to the spiritual life and the sense perceptible beauty is applied to things, which attracts our sense, especially our hearing and seeing.

There are different types too, natural beauty which comes from the nature of beings, therefore we can say a woman is beautiful naturally in her femininity and rationality; and artificially when she starts further enhancing her beauty through make-up, dressing and exercise, and a painting is artificially beautiful in so far as it is painted artificially by human hands.

The Unity Of Beauty And Goodness

A special type of goodness is beauty because it gives rise to a special delight by simply being known. The sensible appetite comes into play when it feels the aesthetic appreciation and delight. It is the contemplation of the beauty of the object not on its possession. Beauty is pleasing to the will or sense appetites simply by being known by the senses or the intellect.

The Foundation Of Beauty Lies In Perfection

The foundation of beauty lies in the perfection of the desired object; things are pleasing because they are beautiful. Therefore whether or not there are men or women who are capable of appreciating a beauty, the perfection still resides in the object and thus beautiful. This perfection is from the act of being, the fullness, and absolute Beauty. Read more…

Art for Arts Sake?

Dear reader, before i begin my tirade of self assured blathering i would ask you to hold this question in your mind before you let your eyes scan further across the pre-mentioned text. What is Beauty? By which i mean what is it to you personally and also what is it to society? How do we view and value it?

Beauty for no sake except its own is the only form worth pursuing, when beauty has a dual purpose it detracts form itself, let me explain further as i realize i have launched into my thoughts without taking the time to go into detail. If a beautiful object such as a painting or sculpture or a fine building has a primary or secondary function other than to be beautiful it ceases to be so, and thus falls into the well worn trap of being merely practical.

Many people suppose that all beauty can have a purpose, A flower is comely to attract bees, as is a female to attract males at first glance it would well seem that every natural beauty has a purpose or a side agenda which was in place firstly thus leading to the need for a form of beauty, and so mankind emulates his perceived surroundings and assigns all beauty a sub-task for which its beauty is just the mode of delivery for its purpose or job. If this is deemed to be true then beauty must have no value in itself and therefore cannot truly be beautiful. Man finds it almost impossible to create something of beauty without attaching to it a subtle meaning or silent message. The human race feels lost and shudders to think of a purposeless universe twirling and pulsating in all its perfect majesty for no other reason than IT IS. A good example is Mona Lisa’s smile by which i mean the painting not the much later but also very brilliant movie, Back to the painting of the Mona Lisa, most of us rather than look upon it and say to ourselves she is as she is, we look for a hidden meaning in that most beautiful smile, a hint of sadness? a glint of buried despair perhaps? Read more…