Everyone has heard the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" but is it really? Denis Dutton said that "beauty is in the culturally conditioned eye of the beholder." Not quite what Plato said, but similar. However, Dutton seems to be more accurate because not everyone's perspectives are the same. Most of it is because of our cultures. I might think something is beautiful, but someone else might think it's hideous. For example, people from America prefer paintings of some type landscape and people from another country might prefer paintings that are abstract and look unrealistic. It all comes down to how we were raised, where we were raised and what in our culture is thought to be beautiful.
As someone else pointed out, a painting that looks like complete disaster could actually be considered beautiful in someone else's eyes because that is just what they grew up to like and that's their preference. Is it art or is it a bunch of lines? Well who are we to say that it's unappealing? Every single one of us has a preference and I'm sure that it's not all going to be the same. It might be to some extent but only because the media influences our decisions whether we think it does or not. One example of this could be a size 2 model advertising make-up. The only way that women can be beautiful is if they look this way and wear the make-up...at least that's what the advertisement would be saying.
Personally, I think that beauty is determined by the culturally conditioned eye of the beholder and it always will be.
Any thoughts or comments?
I love Kim's standing in that beauty can be seen in an individual sense that we may all see it separately. It all depends on how we view it because if we see something as ugly...then that's what it is for us. That is not to say it is true for every person..
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