Beauty Debate Guide

From PhiloWiki

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

What is beauty?

"The distinction between pleasure and the sense of beauty has sometimes be said to consist in the unselfishness of aesthetic satisfaction. In other pleasures, it is said, we gratify our senses and passions; in the contemplation of beauty we are raised above ourselves, the passions are silenced and we are happy in the recognition of a good that we do not seek to possess."

- George Santayana    

• What is beauty? Is beauty good? Why does beauty please?
• Why do we find certain things beautiful? Is it just a matter of perspective? Can anything be beautiful in the right light?
• Why are we drawn to certain objects and repelled by others?
• Is nature intrinsically beautiful?
• Why is mathematical truth sometimes considered beautiful? Why are designs that follow the golden ratio so powerfully beautiful?

Human beauty

In society, attractive people tend to be more intelligent, better adjusted, and more popular. This is described as the halo effect - due to the perfection associated with angels. Research shows attractive people also have more occupational success and more dating experience than their unattractive counterparts. One theory behind this halo effect is that it is accurate -- attractive people are indeed more successful.

- Feng, Charles. Looking Good: The Psychology and the Biology of Beauty in Journal of Young Investigators, Issue 6, December 2002. [1]    

• Is beauty subjective or are there universal standards for beauty? What makes a person beautiful?
• Are disked ears beautiful? (The Maasai think so.) Are stretched necks beautiful? (Ask in Burma.) How about bound feet? (In China they used to be.)
• Is skinny beautiful? Is big beautiful?
• What we consider beautiful is, to a certain extent, governed by our brains (for example, we find symmetry in faces more beautiful than asymmetry). Does the role of biology and evolution in beauty unsettle you?
• According to the "halo effect" beautiful people are more successful. Is this true or not? Is there an actual "halo effect" or is it just a self-fulfilling prophecy?
• Can personal beauty be used to "get ahead" at work? If so, does this work the same way for men and for women?
• How have standards of beauty changed in the past few decades? Would Marilyn Monroe be considered beautiful now? Would Angelina Jolie have been considered beautiful in the 50s?

Beauty and Society

The original Iron Maiden was a medieval German instrument of torture, a body shaped casket painted with the limbs and features of a lovely, smiling young woman. The unlucky victim was slowly enclosed inside her; the lid fell shut to immobilize the victim, who died either of starvation, or, less cruelly, of the metal spikes embedded in her interior. The modern hallucination in which women are trapped or trap themselves is similarly rigid, cruel and euphemistically painted.

- Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth. Anchor Books, New York, 1992. Pg. 17.    

• Do contemporary ideals of beauty trap women this way? Are beauty standards an Iron Maiden? How does this affect men? Does is affect men the same way?
• When someone is hired or fired based on their looks, is it sex discrimination or market logic? Why?
• Is it better to be beautiful? Is being beautiful ever a burden?
• Under what circumstances, if any, would you subject yourself to a cosmetic procedure? Why?
• According to recent national surveys, eating disorders are on the rise. The study also reports that eating disorders are about twice as coming among women as men. Why is this? Are standards of beauty propagated by mass media responsible for this?
• How does media affect our perceptions of beauty? What are the dangers of this?
• Discuss the magazine ads provided. What is the subtext here? What do they imply? What kind of effect does this kind of message have on society? What are the consequences of this?