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|
11/28/2022
|
By Trent Blake
|
What is beauty? The most common answer is “that which is pleasing to the senses”. The adage, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” speaks to this answer. In this view, beauty is entirely subjective. Nothing is itself beautiful. There is no beauty within the object itself, only in the perception of the subject. Beauty is not objective but is rather subjective. I would like to challenge this assumption. In this article, I will be presenting my case for the belief that beauty is not subjective but rather an objective attribute of varying degrees that all things possess.
To begin, let us look at the evidence for the contrary. For what reasons might we come to believe that beauty is subjective? The primary reason is that our perception of what is beautiful varies from person to person and culture to culture. For example, in twenty-first-century America, the common cultural belief is that the most desirable women are thin. Yet, in Mauritania – a country in northeast Africa – this belief would receive nothing but confusion and laughter, as a common saying in that country speaks the complete opposite: "The glory of a man is measured by the fatness of his woman" (1). What a contrast! Even within America, we see people attracted to different sorts of body shapes, with preferences varying from person to person. This, then, is offered as definitive proof that beauty is subjective.
Is this assessment correct? Not necessarily. All this demonstrates is that our taste changes from person to person and culture to culture. Yet, this is not unique to beauty. We see the same principle applies to morality. Some cultures find it perfectly agreeable to eat their children. Others do not. This does not mean then that morality is subjective. Rather, it only means that our beliefs about what constitutes virtue and vice vary. Rather than conclude that morality must be subjective, we ought instead to conclude that much of our moral taste is out of alignment with what is truly morally good. Likewise, rather than assume that beauty is subjective, we ought to conclude that much of our taste in beauty is out of alignment with what is truly beautiful.
What evidence do we have for objective beauty, then? While the case for objective beauty is not nearly as strong as the case for objective morality, there are some strong indicators that it is itself unchanging. The first line of evidence is the near-universal agreement by all humanity in all cultures that certain things are beautiful. A sunset. A powerful waterfall. The polar lights. All of these things have the same characteristic of breathtaking beauty. Likewise, the opposite is also true: graphic depictions of torture and abuse are near-universally understood to be perverted and not beautiful. Many explanations have been given as to why we see beauty and ugliness in things. But perhaps the answer is simple: perhaps we think a sunset is beautiful because it is beautiful. Occam’s Razor dictates in the absence of the need for a more complicated explanation, the simplest explanation is preferable. Thus, unless we have good reason to believe otherwise, I am inclined to believe in objective beauty that transcends subjective preference.
What is beauty, then? As a Christian Theist, I believe all things find their grounding in God. Morality is grounded in God’s character. Logic is grounded in God’s mind. Beauty is no different. Beauty is grounded in God’s radiance and glory. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (ESV). Beauty is the radiance that comes from a thing’s alignment with its God-sourced potential.
Thus, the closer something is to its potential, the more beautiful it is. In contrast, the further something is from its potential, the less beautiful it is. What then is “potential”? Potential is the summation of a thing’s purpose and its quality. Thus, by this standard, we can objectively know what is and isn't beautiful – though not with exact precision.
We can say a person is beautiful based on their quality and fulfillment of their God-given purpose. Thus, a healthy, wise, God-fearing person is objectively more beautiful than a slothful, lazy, insane person. This test can also be applied to individual aspects of humanity: a person’s hair is most beautiful when it is at its healthiest (quality) and best serves its God-given purpose. By this standard, we can judge healthy skin as more beautiful than leprous skin but cannot judge dark or light-colored skin as more beautiful than the other. Before continuing, it must be noted that a difference in beauty does not equate to a difference in value. Even the least objectively beautiful person is still precious in the sight of God, who loves us even when we are at our least beautiful.
When it comes to works of art and other sorts of images, we may judge these by a similar standard. Something is visually beautiful when its depiction is in alignment with its God-given potential. Thus, famous paintings of indecently-clad people are not objectively beautiful, for they are in misalignment with their God-sourced potential by nature of their degradation of human decency. Likewise, paintings of rape are in misalignment and thus ugly. Thus, I would oppose the conclusion of Walford, where he said, “plenty of works of art have as their subject what is horrible and ugly, representing human depravity, suffering, sin, crime, pride and all that is evil and ugly. Yet these works can be ‘beautiful’ in the sense that they are truthful” (2). To the Christian, truthfulness is not the standard of beauty, but rather the radiance that comes from the alignment of something with its God-given potential.
Still, just because something is not inherently beautiful, that does not necessarily mean one should not use it. For in the same sense that sin is itself evil, but put into the context of God’s plan, it works out for an even greater good, so also ugliness depicted in such a way that magnifies beauty brings out a greater beauty. An example of this would be a movie about a villain (ugly) who wages war against good (beauty) where the villain is eventually defeated. Thus, when considering depicting what is less than beautiful, the question which should be in the mind of each Christian painter, story writer, film director, or graphic designer should be: how much ugliness is too ugly to be irredeemable to magnify the victory of the beautiful? Or, put positively: what elements of ugliness can be redeemed to magnify what is beautiful? We must use discernment in such places.
How should Christian media producers and consumers act in light of this understanding of beauty? As producers, we must work to magnify Christ in all we do, displaying His glory (and thus beauty) through our actions. Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (ESV). Likewise,as consumers, we ought to be mindful of what we take into our hearts. Scripture tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (ESV).
Why? Scripture also tells us that as well, in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (ESV). Our hearts are designed to be filled with what is beautiful. This itself is an act of worship to God as we glorify Him in both what we give out and in what we take in.
To begin, let us look at the evidence for the contrary. For what reasons might we come to believe that beauty is subjective? The primary reason is that our perception of what is beautiful varies from person to person and culture to culture. For example, in twenty-first-century America, the common cultural belief is that the most desirable women are thin. Yet, in Mauritania – a country in northeast Africa – this belief would receive nothing but confusion and laughter, as a common saying in that country speaks the complete opposite: "The glory of a man is measured by the fatness of his woman" (1). What a contrast! Even within America, we see people attracted to different sorts of body shapes, with preferences varying from person to person. This, then, is offered as definitive proof that beauty is subjective.
Is this assessment correct? Not necessarily. All this demonstrates is that our taste changes from person to person and culture to culture. Yet, this is not unique to beauty. We see the same principle applies to morality. Some cultures find it perfectly agreeable to eat their children. Others do not. This does not mean then that morality is subjective. Rather, it only means that our beliefs about what constitutes virtue and vice vary. Rather than conclude that morality must be subjective, we ought instead to conclude that much of our moral taste is out of alignment with what is truly morally good. Likewise, rather than assume that beauty is subjective, we ought to conclude that much of our taste in beauty is out of alignment with what is truly beautiful.
What evidence do we have for objective beauty, then? While the case for objective beauty is not nearly as strong as the case for objective morality, there are some strong indicators that it is itself unchanging. The first line of evidence is the near-universal agreement by all humanity in all cultures that certain things are beautiful. A sunset. A powerful waterfall. The polar lights. All of these things have the same characteristic of breathtaking beauty. Likewise, the opposite is also true: graphic depictions of torture and abuse are near-universally understood to be perverted and not beautiful. Many explanations have been given as to why we see beauty and ugliness in things. But perhaps the answer is simple: perhaps we think a sunset is beautiful because it is beautiful. Occam’s Razor dictates in the absence of the need for a more complicated explanation, the simplest explanation is preferable. Thus, unless we have good reason to believe otherwise, I am inclined to believe in objective beauty that transcends subjective preference.
What is beauty, then? As a Christian Theist, I believe all things find their grounding in God. Morality is grounded in God’s character. Logic is grounded in God’s mind. Beauty is no different. Beauty is grounded in God’s radiance and glory. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (ESV). Beauty is the radiance that comes from a thing’s alignment with its God-sourced potential.
Thus, the closer something is to its potential, the more beautiful it is. In contrast, the further something is from its potential, the less beautiful it is. What then is “potential”? Potential is the summation of a thing’s purpose and its quality. Thus, by this standard, we can objectively know what is and isn't beautiful – though not with exact precision.
We can say a person is beautiful based on their quality and fulfillment of their God-given purpose. Thus, a healthy, wise, God-fearing person is objectively more beautiful than a slothful, lazy, insane person. This test can also be applied to individual aspects of humanity: a person’s hair is most beautiful when it is at its healthiest (quality) and best serves its God-given purpose. By this standard, we can judge healthy skin as more beautiful than leprous skin but cannot judge dark or light-colored skin as more beautiful than the other. Before continuing, it must be noted that a difference in beauty does not equate to a difference in value. Even the least objectively beautiful person is still precious in the sight of God, who loves us even when we are at our least beautiful.
When it comes to works of art and other sorts of images, we may judge these by a similar standard. Something is visually beautiful when its depiction is in alignment with its God-given potential. Thus, famous paintings of indecently-clad people are not objectively beautiful, for they are in misalignment with their God-sourced potential by nature of their degradation of human decency. Likewise, paintings of rape are in misalignment and thus ugly. Thus, I would oppose the conclusion of Walford, where he said, “plenty of works of art have as their subject what is horrible and ugly, representing human depravity, suffering, sin, crime, pride and all that is evil and ugly. Yet these works can be ‘beautiful’ in the sense that they are truthful” (2). To the Christian, truthfulness is not the standard of beauty, but rather the radiance that comes from the alignment of something with its God-given potential.
Still, just because something is not inherently beautiful, that does not necessarily mean one should not use it. For in the same sense that sin is itself evil, but put into the context of God’s plan, it works out for an even greater good, so also ugliness depicted in such a way that magnifies beauty brings out a greater beauty. An example of this would be a movie about a villain (ugly) who wages war against good (beauty) where the villain is eventually defeated. Thus, when considering depicting what is less than beautiful, the question which should be in the mind of each Christian painter, story writer, film director, or graphic designer should be: how much ugliness is too ugly to be irredeemable to magnify the victory of the beautiful? Or, put positively: what elements of ugliness can be redeemed to magnify what is beautiful? We must use discernment in such places.
How should Christian media producers and consumers act in light of this understanding of beauty? As producers, we must work to magnify Christ in all we do, displaying His glory (and thus beauty) through our actions. Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (ESV). Likewise,as consumers, we ought to be mindful of what we take into our hearts. Scripture tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (ESV).
Why? Scripture also tells us that as well, in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (ESV). Our hearts are designed to be filled with what is beautiful. This itself is an act of worship to God as we glorify Him in both what we give out and in what we take in.
Works Cited
(1) Hasan, Lama. “Mauritania Tries to Reverse Obesity Tradition.” ABC News, ABC News, 2022, abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4322187&page=1.
(2) Walford, E John. An Art Historical Viewpoint. IVP, 2007.
(2) Walford, E John. An Art Historical Viewpoint. IVP, 2007.
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11/28/2022
|
By Trent Blake
|
What is beauty? The most common answer is “that which is pleasing to the senses”. The adage, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” speaks to this answer. In this view, beauty is entirely subjective. Nothing is itself beautiful. There is no beauty within the object itself, only in the perception of the subject. Beauty is not objective but is rather subjective. I would like to challenge this assumption. In this article, I will be presenting my case for the belief that beauty is not subjective but rather an objective attribute of varying degrees that all things possess.
To begin, let us look at the evidence for the contrary. For what reasons might we come to believe that beauty is subjective? The primary reason is that our perception of what is beautiful varies from person to person and culture to culture. For example, in twenty-first-century America, the common cultural belief is that the most desirable women are thin. Yet, in Mauritania – a country in northeast Africa – this belief would receive nothing but confusion and laughter, as a common saying in that country speaks the complete opposite: "The glory of a man is measured by the fatness of his woman" (1). What a contrast! Even within America, we see people attracted to different sorts of body shapes, with preferences varying from person to person. This, then, is offered as definitive proof that beauty is subjective.
Is this assessment correct? Not necessarily. All this demonstrates is that our taste changes from person to person and culture to culture. Yet, this is not unique to beauty. We see the same principle applies to morality. Some cultures find it perfectly agreeable to eat their children. Others do not. This does not mean then that morality is subjective. Rather, it only means that our beliefs about what constitutes virtue and vice vary. Rather than conclude that morality must be subjective, we ought instead to conclude that much of our moral taste is out of alignment with what is truly morally good. Likewise, rather than assume that beauty is subjective, we ought to conclude that much of our taste in beauty is out of alignment with what is truly beautiful.
What evidence do we have for objective beauty, then? While the case for objective beauty is not nearly as strong as the case for objective morality, there are some strong indicators that it is itself unchanging. The first line of evidence is the near-universal agreement by all humanity in all cultures that certain things are beautiful. A sunset. A powerful waterfall. The polar lights. All of these things have the same characteristic of breathtaking beauty. Likewise, the opposite is also true: graphic depictions of torture and abuse are near-universally understood to be perverted and not beautiful. Many explanations have been given as to why we see beauty and ugliness in things. But perhaps the answer is simple: perhaps we think a sunset is beautiful because it is beautiful. Occam’s Razor dictates in the absence of the need for a more complicated explanation, the simplest explanation is preferable. Thus, unless we have good reason to believe otherwise, I am inclined to believe in objective beauty that transcends subjective preference.
What is beauty, then? As a Christian Theist, I believe all things find their grounding in God. Morality is grounded in God’s character. Logic is grounded in God’s mind. Beauty is no different. Beauty is grounded in God’s radiance and glory. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (ESV). Beauty is the radiance that comes from a thing’s alignment with its God-sourced potential.
Thus, the closer something is to its potential, the more beautiful it is. In contrast, the further something is from its potential, the less beautiful it is. What then is “potential”? Potential is the summation of a thing’s purpose and its quality. Thus, by this standard, we can objectively know what is and isn't beautiful – though not with exact precision.
We can say a person is beautiful based on their quality and fulfillment of their God-given purpose. Thus, a healthy, wise, God-fearing person is objectively more beautiful than a slothful, lazy, insane person. This test can also be applied to individual aspects of humanity: a person’s hair is most beautiful when it is at its healthiest (quality) and best serves its God-given purpose. By this standard, we can judge healthy skin as more beautiful than leprous skin but cannot judge dark or light-colored skin as more beautiful than the other. Before continuing, it must be noted that a difference in beauty does not equate to a difference in value. Even the least objectively beautiful person is still precious in the sight of God, who loves us even when we are at our least beautiful.
When it comes to works of art and other sorts of images, we may judge these by a similar standard. Something is visually beautiful when its depiction is in alignment with its God-given potential. Thus, famous paintings of indecently-clad people are not objectively beautiful, for they are in misalignment with their God-sourced potential by nature of their degradation of human decency. Likewise, paintings of rape are in misalignment and thus ugly. Thus, I would oppose the conclusion of Walford, where he said, “plenty of works of art have as their subject what is horrible and ugly, representing human depravity, suffering, sin, crime, pride and all that is evil and ugly. Yet these works can be ‘beautiful’ in the sense that they are truthful” (2). To the Christian, truthfulness is not the standard of beauty, but rather the radiance that comes from the alignment of something with its God-given potential.
Still, just because something is not inherently beautiful, that does not necessarily mean one should not use it. For in the same sense that sin is itself evil, but put into the context of God’s plan, it works out for an even greater good, so also ugliness depicted in such a way that magnifies beauty brings out a greater beauty. An example of this would be a movie about a villain (ugly) who wages war against good (beauty) where the villain is eventually defeated. Thus, when considering depicting what is less than beautiful, the question which should be in the mind of each Christian painter, story writer, film director, or graphic designer should be: how much ugliness is too ugly to be irredeemable to magnify the victory of the beautiful? Or, put positively: what elements of ugliness can be redeemed to magnify what is beautiful? We must use discernment in such places.
How should Christian media producers and consumers act in light of this understanding of beauty? As producers, we must work to magnify Christ in all we do, displaying His glory (and thus beauty) through our actions. Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (ESV). Likewise,as consumers, we ought to be mindful of what we take into our hearts. Scripture tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (ESV).
Why? Scripture also tells us that as well, in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (ESV). Our hearts are designed to be filled with what is beautiful. This itself is an act of worship to God as we glorify Him in both what we give out and in what we take in.
To begin, let us look at the evidence for the contrary. For what reasons might we come to believe that beauty is subjective? The primary reason is that our perception of what is beautiful varies from person to person and culture to culture. For example, in twenty-first-century America, the common cultural belief is that the most desirable women are thin. Yet, in Mauritania – a country in northeast Africa – this belief would receive nothing but confusion and laughter, as a common saying in that country speaks the complete opposite: "The glory of a man is measured by the fatness of his woman" (1). What a contrast! Even within America, we see people attracted to different sorts of body shapes, with preferences varying from person to person. This, then, is offered as definitive proof that beauty is subjective.
Is this assessment correct? Not necessarily. All this demonstrates is that our taste changes from person to person and culture to culture. Yet, this is not unique to beauty. We see the same principle applies to morality. Some cultures find it perfectly agreeable to eat their children. Others do not. This does not mean then that morality is subjective. Rather, it only means that our beliefs about what constitutes virtue and vice vary. Rather than conclude that morality must be subjective, we ought instead to conclude that much of our moral taste is out of alignment with what is truly morally good. Likewise, rather than assume that beauty is subjective, we ought to conclude that much of our taste in beauty is out of alignment with what is truly beautiful.
What evidence do we have for objective beauty, then? While the case for objective beauty is not nearly as strong as the case for objective morality, there are some strong indicators that it is itself unchanging. The first line of evidence is the near-universal agreement by all humanity in all cultures that certain things are beautiful. A sunset. A powerful waterfall. The polar lights. All of these things have the same characteristic of breathtaking beauty. Likewise, the opposite is also true: graphic depictions of torture and abuse are near-universally understood to be perverted and not beautiful. Many explanations have been given as to why we see beauty and ugliness in things. But perhaps the answer is simple: perhaps we think a sunset is beautiful because it is beautiful. Occam’s Razor dictates in the absence of the need for a more complicated explanation, the simplest explanation is preferable. Thus, unless we have good reason to believe otherwise, I am inclined to believe in objective beauty that transcends subjective preference.
What is beauty, then? As a Christian Theist, I believe all things find their grounding in God. Morality is grounded in God’s character. Logic is grounded in God’s mind. Beauty is no different. Beauty is grounded in God’s radiance and glory. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (ESV). Beauty is the radiance that comes from a thing’s alignment with its God-sourced potential.
Thus, the closer something is to its potential, the more beautiful it is. In contrast, the further something is from its potential, the less beautiful it is. What then is “potential”? Potential is the summation of a thing’s purpose and its quality. Thus, by this standard, we can objectively know what is and isn't beautiful – though not with exact precision.
We can say a person is beautiful based on their quality and fulfillment of their God-given purpose. Thus, a healthy, wise, God-fearing person is objectively more beautiful than a slothful, lazy, insane person. This test can also be applied to individual aspects of humanity: a person’s hair is most beautiful when it is at its healthiest (quality) and best serves its God-given purpose. By this standard, we can judge healthy skin as more beautiful than leprous skin but cannot judge dark or light-colored skin as more beautiful than the other. Before continuing, it must be noted that a difference in beauty does not equate to a difference in value. Even the least objectively beautiful person is still precious in the sight of God, who loves us even when we are at our least beautiful.
When it comes to works of art and other sorts of images, we may judge these by a similar standard. Something is visually beautiful when its depiction is in alignment with its God-given potential. Thus, famous paintings of indecently-clad people are not objectively beautiful, for they are in misalignment with their God-sourced potential by nature of their degradation of human decency. Likewise, paintings of rape are in misalignment and thus ugly. Thus, I would oppose the conclusion of Walford, where he said, “plenty of works of art have as their subject what is horrible and ugly, representing human depravity, suffering, sin, crime, pride and all that is evil and ugly. Yet these works can be ‘beautiful’ in the sense that they are truthful” (2). To the Christian, truthfulness is not the standard of beauty, but rather the radiance that comes from the alignment of something with its God-given potential.
Still, just because something is not inherently beautiful, that does not necessarily mean one should not use it. For in the same sense that sin is itself evil, but put into the context of God’s plan, it works out for an even greater good, so also ugliness depicted in such a way that magnifies beauty brings out a greater beauty. An example of this would be a movie about a villain (ugly) who wages war against good (beauty) where the villain is eventually defeated. Thus, when considering depicting what is less than beautiful, the question which should be in the mind of each Christian painter, story writer, film director, or graphic designer should be: how much ugliness is too ugly to be irredeemable to magnify the victory of the beautiful? Or, put positively: what elements of ugliness can be redeemed to magnify what is beautiful? We must use discernment in such places.
How should Christian media producers and consumers act in light of this understanding of beauty? As producers, we must work to magnify Christ in all we do, displaying His glory (and thus beauty) through our actions. Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (ESV). Likewise,as consumers, we ought to be mindful of what we take into our hearts. Scripture tells us in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (ESV).
Why? Scripture also tells us that as well, in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (ESV). Our hearts are designed to be filled with what is beautiful. This itself is an act of worship to God as we glorify Him in both what we give out and in what we take in.
Works Cited
(1) Hasan, Lama. “Mauritania Tries to Reverse Obesity Tradition.” ABC News, ABC News, 2022, abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4322187&page=1.
(2) Walford, E John. An Art Historical Viewpoint. IVP, 2007.
(2) Walford, E John. An Art Historical Viewpoint. IVP, 2007.
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- About
- Writings
- SERMONS
-
RESOURCES
- Free Stuff
- Basics of Christianity
- Against False Teaching
- Sharing Your Faith
- Philosophical Apologetics
- Historical Apologetics
- Scientific Apologetics
- Controversial Topics, 1
- Controversial Topics, 2
- Controversial Topics, 3
- Controversial Topics
- Recommended Sermons
- Recommended Books
- Recommended Articles
- Recommended Debates
- Further Study
- Blog