CONCEPTS OF THE BEAUTIFUL

It has been remarked that the naked body — the breasts and genitalia — mimic the human face. Human beings are unique amongst mammals in possessing this feature. The biologist Desmond Morris — who rose to prominence with his book The Naked Ape — argues that this feature evolved because of the special importance of sexual bonding.

It is impossible, today, to distinguish what we have inherited from our biology and the influence of culture. Judging from the history of art, women whom we would classify as obese were once regarded as ideals of female beauty.

Human beauty is bound up with desire, which is not necessarily sexual desire. Consciously or unconsciously, we seek the company of attractive people. We rejoice in the beauty of our children.

Schopenhauer argued that the mark of true aesthetic beauty, in a work of art, is the absence of desire, and this alone can free one from the endless pursuit of objects of desire. That we can achieve happiness only by giving up desire — as Buddhists teach — is a profoundly pessimistic view.

We want to be beautiful because we want to be loved and found desirable. Yet there is ample evidence that it is love which gives rise to beauty. Not only does the lover see his or her beloved as 'beautiful'; you can see when someone is loved from the beauty of their facial expression or bodily movements.

Beauty also has commercial cash value, e.g. to the film star or fashion model. We are inundated with adverts which sell — and over-sell — the idea of beauty.

This explains why the pursuit of beauty through plastic and cosmetic surgery is bound up with conflicting and sometimes irrational beliefs and desires.

© Geoffrey Klempner 2008