Beauty is commonly defined as the emotional feeling of appreciation for beauty. Such beauty can be visual or psychological. Such beauty is often subjective, dependent upon the person viewing the beauty. Such beauty is often compared to the beauty we see in nature.
Beauty, with art and psychology, is a major theme of aesthetics, among the major branches of fine art history. For example, in contemplating the physical beauty of a landscape, an viewer may assign values to the objects of sight based on their visual magnificence. Aesthetic appreciation of the natural world is deeply related to aesthetic appreciation of beauty. This branch of aesthetics is closely related to the field of art itself and the work of artists who use the natural world as their basis for creation.
The beauty principle states that an object is pleasing to the eye only if it enhances the surrounding environment which includes the surrounding people and things. The beauty of a person, place, or idea can be objectively measured, tested, and studied. We have all had the experience of looking at inanimate objects and thinking “wow, that is so beautiful.” This is because our mind has associated beauty with the object’s form and composition, as well as its being in a particular environment.
According to the beauty principle, beauty can also be subjective, depending on the person viewing the beauty. Some people may find a garden more beautiful than another, depending on their own aesthetic appreciation of beauty. However, this is not to say that other people cannot have different or even opposite aesthetic standards, since beauty is ultimately a subjective concept. Our mind assigns values to different things depending on our personal beliefs about beauty.
Many philosophers and artists argue against beauty consciousness, arguing that beauty is merely a subjective state, and can therefore not be objectively measured or scientifically studied. However, proponents of the beauty consciousness theory feel that our sense of beauty reflects something about our inner nature. If our inner nature is defined by the beauty we observe around us, then it follows that we can improve the external world by changing our behavior and attitudes. Behavior and attitudes are the physical manifestations of what our inner nature is, and if we want the world to be a better place for all of us, then we need to change our behavior and attitudes.
Beauty is a subjective idea; however, it can be objective from a scientific viewpoint. Researchers can measure and examine different aspects of a natural object to determine its value as a source of beauty. They can analyze the physical form and composition of the object, and compare it to known standards of beauty. From this information they can determine how much beauty is inherent in the object. Some people may find that the external world around them is less than beautiful, while others will find that it is beauty in its true sense.