Baskadia

Definition of Beauty, Beauty is a concept that has long been theorized. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle certainly weighed in on the subject. However, it is a concept that despite being centuries old and universally understood, is never static. What is considered beautiful today will certainly not be the case in a decade or so. It is a concept that evolves from era to era, from culture to culture. In the modern day dictionary, beauty is defined as the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations, a meaningful design or pattern, or something else. This is a very inclusive definition and certainly accounts for the fact that there are many different forms of what may be considered beautiful.

The aim of this essay is to examine how western perspectives of beauty are altered through their appeal to other cultures. I will begin by outlining the notion of beauty and the evolution of its definition. I will then go on to raise a few examples of how different cultures embrace this concept in order to point out that what may be considered beautiful in one culture may be thought of as ugly in another. I intend to conclude that whilst on the one hand western societies are becoming more liberal and are able to appreciate a wider array of beauty, they are more and more being influenced by the commercial view of beauty in which the media force feeds them. Through this realization it is hoped that societies reconsider their own concept of beauty and in doing so learn to more readily accept themselves.

1.1. Definition of Beauty

One definition of beauty is defined as a quality that provides intense pleasure or deep satisfaction by the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. A more sophisticated definition suggested by the Encarta World Dictionary is that beauty is an attribute of a thing that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind. However, from a research undertaken by John Keats (an English poet), beauty cannot be defined in a universal sense. He said that a thing of beauty is the one that can be experienced and is impossible to capture in defining terms. Beauty can be felt and experienced in different things and it can never be captured in words. Hence, the definitions suggested in the dictionary are just an attempt to give a vague idea of what beauty really is, which is very relative. A person or a thing that may be beautiful to one person can be just the opposite to another. Beauty has a lot to do with the character and the inner qualities of a person. A person who is kind, loving, gentle, and honest can be said to be a person of good character who possesses inner beauty. While a person with a roguish look, biasness, and harsh mannerisms can be said to have a bad character. Hence, beauty can be categorized as being external or it can be something that is internal. Internal beauty includes personality, kindness, intelligence, grace, charisma, etc. while external beauty is only about the appearance of a person or thing. With all this said, the underlying tone in the definition suggests that there is a sense of satisfaction or pleasure. According to John Keats, beauty is a source of joy and happiness for the viewer. Beauty in general leads to more happiness for the world. Therefore, all the definitions suggest nearly the same thing, which is a quality or attribute that is a source of intense satisfaction to the mind.