Beauty – An Aesthetic Experience

Beauty is widely defined as the subjective aspect of all physical objects, which makes these objects enjoyable to see. These objects come in different shapes, colors and sizes. Beauty, along with beauty, is the primary topic of aesthetics, another of the several branches of applied science. It was Darwin’s theory on natural selection that first put forward the notion that beauty is a subjective quality of a living being independent of his or her physical features.

According to Darwin’s theory, natural selection is a progressive increase of animal and plant variety, with the aim of increasing fitness in the struggle for existence. Natural selection, with its emphasis on survival of the fittest and the ability to propagate, is also responsible for changes in the appearance of plants and animals over time, especially after a long period of dormancy. Aesthetic experiences are independent of physiological changes and cannot be influenced by natural selection, so they are often called ‘aesthetic experience’ rather than ‘natural aesthetic sense.’ The word ‘aesthetic experience’ was first used by Sartre in his Refutations (1947) and thereafter was used by Jung in his lectures on aesthetic psychology.

Philosophy and aesthetics continue to have a difficult time agreeing on the nature and definition of beauty. Modern aesthetics is largely based on the idea that beauty is inherently subjective, and that it can be discovered through the process of elimination of all the objects that do not harmonize with our aesthetic sense. The reduction of ‘ugliness’ and ‘seriousness’ is central to modern aesthetics.