Historically, beauty has been a topic of great interest, with many philosophers attempting to define and quantify it. Ancient treatments of beauty usually pay tribute to the pleasures associated with it. The modern revival of interest in beauty began in the 1990s, in part through the work of art critic Dave Hickey. During this period, feminist-oriented reconstruals of beauty also gained attention.
Early in the twentieth century, the use of beauty became associated with capitalism and the aristocracy. These associations have been problematic in many ways, and in the late twentieth century, they have been addressed in social justice movements. The entanglement of beauty with race and gender has been particularly problematic, as have other aspects of its association with politics.
The classical conception of beauty holds that beauty is the harmonious relation of parts to the whole. Sometimes this is expressed in mathematical ratios. In particular, the golden ratio is a Fibonacci sequence that is a good example of this.
Another early explanation of beauty is that it is a manifestation of goodness. This concept, often referred to as the ‘golden triangle,’ is an empirical statement that satisfies some criteria for a unified theory of beauty. It explains that rules of aesthetics are byproducts of good design.
The hedonist conceptions of beauty hold that objects of beauty are defined in terms of function and value. The hedonist theory of beauty also considers pleasure to be the cause of beauty. However, there is also a difference between pleasure and beauty. The former is a purely subjective experience, while the latter is a more objective one. This distinction is important, because the same object can be perceived as different colors at noon and midnight, depending on the observer’s perspective.
The Euclidean position identifies beauty with symmetry, a relation of parts to the whole. It relates a line to a triangle and uses this example as proof of its claims.
Aquinas’ explanation of beauty satisfies the criteria for a unified theory of beauty because it explains how form and function can be simultaneously present in the physical world. His theory also answers Kant’s humanism. He says that beauty is an expression of God’s divine purpose. It also explains how the physical attributes of an object can contribute to the enjoyment of its beauty.
Aristotle disagreed with Plato’s claim that beauty is an objective fact. He believed that beauty was divine. His formulation is atypical of the classical approach because it entails the notion that the concept of beauty is objective. Although his definition omitted a number of nuances, it does provide an empirical description of the beauty of a particular type of object.
A similar account of beauty was provided by George Santayana, who asserted that pleasure is the cause of beauty. His theory was intended to suggest that a particular experience of a certain object could be profound and a meaningful one. The implication is that the experience of beauty would be worth living for.