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Single Idea 18544

[filed under theme 21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 4. Beauty ]

Full Idea

Maybe we can understand the 'beauty' of a building better if we describe it in another and less loaded way, as a form of fittingness or harmony.

Gist of Idea

Maybe 'beauty' is too loaded, and we should talk of fittingness or harmony

Source

Roger Scruton (Beauty: a very short introduction [2011], 1)

Book Ref

Scruton,Roger: 'Beauty: A Very Short Introduction' [OUP 2011], p.11


A Reaction

Almost everyone accepts the word 'beauty' for some things, such as a beautiful face, or goal, or steak. I remember a female interviewer writing that, reluctantly, the only appropriate word she could find for Nureyev's face was 'beautiful'.


The 11 ideas from 'Beauty: a very short introduction'

Do aesthetic reasons count as reasons, if they are rejectable without contradiction? [Scruton]
Defining truth presupposes that there can be a true definition [Scruton]
The pleasure taken in beauty also aims at understanding and valuing [Scruton]
Maybe 'beauty' is too loaded, and we should talk of fittingness or harmony [Scruton]
Beauty (unlike truth and goodness) is questionable as an ultimate value [Scruton]
Natural beauty reassures us that the world is where we belong [Scruton]
Croce says art makes inarticulate intuitions conscious; rival views say the audience is the main concern [Scruton]
Art gives us imaginary worlds which we can view impartially [Scruton]
Beauty shows us what we should want in order to achieve human fulfilment [Scruton]
Prostitution is wrong because it hardens the soul, since soul and body are one [Scruton]
Beauty is rationally founded, inviting meaning, comparison and self-reflection [Scruton]