Full Idea
In order to avoid the difficulties that beset both a purely objective and a purely subjective view of beauty, I find myself driven to one which identifies beauty with the power of producing a certain sort of experience in minds.
Gist of Idea
Beauty is neither objective nor subjective, but a power of producing certain mental events
Source
W. David Ross (The Right and the Good [1930], §IV)
Book Reference
Ross,W.David: 'The Right and the Good' [OUP 1930], p.127
A Reaction
This makes beauty a relational quality, rather than an intrinsic one. Ross's theory won't avoid the many usual problems about relativism. Do we define colour similarly, as a power in objects to produce certain sensations?