What Is Beauty?

“Beauty is the proper aim or end of all human actions and desires.” -Rudyard Kipling

Beauty is commonly defined as a subjective, aesthetic quality of things that makes those things beautiful to perceive. These things could be landscapes, sunsets, beautiful humans and artistic works of art. Beauty, with art and beauty, is perhaps the most important constituent of aesthetics, among the various branches of Philosophy. It is also considered by many philosophers to be the basis of personal value, and therefore, human beauty.

The meaning of beauty varies among different cultures and nations. While it is a common characteristic of all cultures that are considered beautiful, some beauty standards are universal while others are unique to one culture. For instance, Greek beauty standards included nymphs and satyr statues, which were deemed to be divine and therefore were used as representations of Greek gods. argue that beauty consists of the quality of a work of art such as a painting or a statue, or a selection of objects that have special significance to the artist. Others point out that beauty consists of the whole effect of the visual affect, which includes the emotion generated by the presence of beauty and its beautification. In short, the definition of beauty varies among philosophers.