Beauty & Love - Research Paper Example

Beauty & Love People hold different perceptions regarding what beauty is. The appreciation of observing a beautiful object, be it natural or the human piece of art work, does not just depend on the sight of it, it however goes beyond to the inner feeling elicited within the observer by the object. Opinions of human beings reveal the differences between the inherent traits engraved in humans regarding their perspectives on moral beauty. It’s sure that people observe and appreciate moral beauty in terms of vision, tastes, the senses of touch, taste, smell as well as hearing. The view here is that moral beauty is can only be appreciated in the perspective of art. This paper intends to establish the link between moral beauty and other works of art as regarding the varying aspects through which people appreciate it. We shall, establish whether interpreting moral beauty is only through acknowledging the common senses of human beings. This study will analyze various studies and writings that have been done in regard to the topic of moral beauty. Philosophers have carried out extensive research studies to define the term beauty. A consensus is that beauty can be interpreted through vast approaches. Natural and moral beauties are appreciated comparatively as the natural beauty holds lots to do with the ‘uncreated’ beauty and as such may allude to the supernatural. Through this, people appreciate the creation or design of an object of artistic value without an apparent designer. On the other hand, in the artistic beauty is the appreciation derived from works done by the concepts of human beings. Appreciating the creation of human beings is what the artistic beauty is associated to. Nevertheless, our study intends to look into the subject of moral beauty. Moral beauty is defined in different perspectives; the beauty from the religion perspective and the beauty associated to human virtual. From the religion point of view, moral beauty can never be understood unless the Godly attributes of justice, truth kindness, grace bounty and love are put into context. Philosophers on the other hand understand moral beauty from the perspective of the integrated human virtues. They reason that the expression of any of the human virtues; wisdom, knowledge, love and kindness (humanity), courage, justice, transcendence temperance and illustrates moral beauty. Other studies have revealed that appreciating moral beauty by a person leads to moral emotion elevation. Nevertheless, a point of contradiction lies between the two terms; moral beauty and moral good. The two terms though used interchangeably may refer to different perspectives as applied in varying disciplines. For instance, while the moral beauty elicits emotions in psychological fields, the moral good only elicit satisfaction in motivation. Therefore, the commonality of the broad subject of moral beauty lies in the appreciation of charity, courage, self-sacrifice kindness, as well as loyalty (Diessner, Rust, Solom, Frost and Parsons 304). History and philosophy illustrates that the discussion of moral beauty arose from early civilization stages. Two main schools of thought tried to understand beauty from the point of rationalism as well as from intention perspective. Reason alone is the sole origin of moral beauty as according to the rationalists while the sentimentalists held that the beauty was partly understood from sentiments. Nevertheless, from the two approaches, one thing that sticks out is that morality can be explained from the perspective of rationality and or the perspective of sentiments. It is pegged on the understanding of what is good or bad as is initiated by the process of socialization. The analogy of morality and beauty is thus inseparable from the attributes of natural appearance as well as the judgment through virtues (Gill, 16-20). Lewis in his great writing about the ‘four types of love’ appreciates the supernatural being of god who through his own way created all things that we perceive, seen and touch. His book revolves around the different types of love that exist between human beings; the love of God, affection, erotic love as well as friendship. Affection alludes to the love that exists and thrives between parents and children or better still the family type of love. However, the emotional ties existing between men and women in the natural set up explain the erotic type of love. This is where the essence of the five senses (hearing, feeling, tasting, sight as well as smelling) that were put to man came in (15). All our success in happiness, freedom as well as strength all emanate from a sovereign God who posses’ great attributes of creativity and omnipresence. He therefore ascertains that it is through the senses that God put in people that help us appreciate his creation. The ability of a man to make his creations that are appreciate-able is an attribute of Godly attributes fixed into man by God. The Godly attributes of ethics and morality defines what is good and acceptable within people. Appreciating the moral aspect of human beings go a long way in defining moral beauty. He therefore ascertains that the capability of a person to observe, understand as well as appreciate encompasses the ability of a person to acknowledge moral beauty. In his writing, a distinction is made between liking something as well as loving it. In liking something which is a form of appreciation, a person takes some pleasure in the thing. In loving something, there is some sense of liking coupled with some emotional influence. Nevertheless, the common ground between the liking and the loving aspects is the attitude that exists (Lewis 25-30). His writings thus predict a sense of emotion and attitude that is associated to moral beauty. Moral beauty as per Lewis would be described by the pleasure that a person attributes to the observing and utilizing an object and appreciating the Godly aspects of good and bad associated attributed to the object. In his theory of subjectivism, Hume reveals that the subjective feeling as opposed to thought explains the beauty of an object or its ugliness to us. Moreover, it is through the feeling that human beings are informed whether an act or behavior is acceptably good or bad (virtue or vice). He argues that it is through the feeling that we admire or hate the object through which praises in favor of or against the object will be based. According to him, beauty is from the sentiment which is accorded to the acceptable human behavior which explains virtue. He ascertains that judgment on the moral goodness and aesthetic value associated to things produce satisfactory basis on which the understanding of moral beauty, which the mere reason does not have (Anon para 27-30). As we sum up, moral beauty is defined differently by people. However, commonality in the definitions hold in that there is appreciation of what is created or made through the judgment of the commonly agreed upon virtues within the human beings’ set up. Moral as well as ethical attributes of the attitude of human beings spell out what morality and beauty is to the people. This paper has found that people define moral beauty in regard to the convergence of the five senses of hearing, tasting, feeling, touch as well as the sight. Beauty is understood in the capacity to appreciate through liking or loving objects. Lewis on his book about love described the various types of love that exist between people; the erotic love, friendship, affection as well as the love of God. Through the book, it is apparent clear that a distinction between loving and liking holds in that loving has aspects of appreciation that links emotional feeling to the feeling. Moral beauty can therefore be understood in the various approaches and through them all, appreciation is the key attribute. Works cited Anonymous, “Hume's Aesthetics” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philisophy. First published Wed, Dec 17, 2003; substantive revision Thu Sep 22, 2011. [Accessed on 6/5/2013.] Web: Diessner Rhett, Rust Teri, Solom Rebecca C., Frost Nellie and Parsons Lucas, “Beauty and hope:a moral beauty Intervention” Journal of Moral Education. Vol. 35, No. 3, September 2006, pp. 301–317. 304 Gill Michael B. “Moral Rationalism vs. Moral Sentimentalism:Is Morality More Like Math or Beauty?” Philosophy Compass 2/1 (2007): 16–30, 10.1111/j.1747-9991.2006.00052.x. 16-20 Lewis Clive Staples. “THE FOUR LOVES” 1898. N. Y Harcourt, Braes [I960] 192p. Read More