When most people think of beauty they immediately picture a specific aspect of someone’s physical features. But, beauty is much more than that.
It’s a primordial Western conception that beauty comes from the arrangement of integral parts into a harmonious whole, according to proportion and symmetry.
This avoids sheer philistinism, by enriching the concept of use and recognizing that beauty is intrinsically valuable.
Physical
Beauty has many dimensions, some more subtle than others. While a beautiful woman is eye-catching and may mesmerize her audience, she must have an inner beauty that radiates from her heart and soul. This beauty gives her life a glow, one that is warm and inviting. She shows compassion for her fellow man, pursues learning, keeps a sense of adventure, and believes she is worthy.
Despite sustained exhortations that beauty is only skin deep, physical attractiveness has a powerful allure and influences almost every aspect of human behavior. For example, studies show that people make first impressions of faces within one-hundredth of a second. Moreover, some features are more attractive than others: For example, both men and women prefer facial symmetry, the result of evolutionarily adaptive characteristics that signal health. Asymmetry, by contrast, signals illness or injury.
In Western culture, beauty is often equated with youth. For both men and women, the signs of aging are considered unattractive and sexually undesirable. Younger, slimmer body shapes are also preferred. However, these cultural norms can be distorted by individual differences in preferences. One study showed that perceptions of beauty are malleable, such that information about a person’s personality can alter the initial judgment of their physical appearance.
Emotional
For centuries, human beings have been preoccupied with beauty. One of the first to put a voice to this fascination was Aristotle, who defined beauty as “that which elevates the spirit and enriches the mind.” He went on to argue that beautiful objects, art, and experiences are uplifting and rewarding. Beauty is a powerful emotion that can evoke feelings of joy, calm, and happiness. It also has the potential to foster feelings of compassion and connection with nature. It is a concept that can be found in art, music, and nature — as well as in our interactions with others. For example, a study found that people who feel a strong connection to nature are more likely to engage in pro-social behaviors.
Similarly, many therapeutic practices incorporate the concept of beauty to promote emotional health. For example, art therapy and nature walks encourage individuals to immerse themselves in beauty, providing a sense of peace and grounding. Another recent research study explored how a person’s feeling of connection with nature influences their satisfaction with life and well-being. The study found that those who felt a strong connection to nature were more satisfied with their lives and more inclined to express pro-social behaviors.
Beauty and wellness are blending as consumers increasingly seek holistic beauty experiences that nourish both body and mind. For example, makeup brands are embracing the concept of beauty as self-expression and introducing products that enable consumers to use color to reflect their moods, transforming their cosmetics into tools for emotional comfort and joy.
Spiritual
Spiritual beauty is the inner beauty that arises from a healthy connection between body, mind, and soul. This can be achieved by practicing a daily routine of clean eating, using natural cosmetics and skincare products that are kind to the earth, and focusing on the spiritual connection with nature. It also comes from practicing kindness, love, and unselfishness. Ultimately, beauty is a manifestation of our inner divine nature and the result of our alignment with Divine principles.
According to Spiritual Christianity, true power is found in the will/volition and intellect over the physical body. Focusing on sensory pleasures weakens both the will/volition and intellect. Alignment with Divine love and wisdom, on the other hand, strengthens both. The higher the alignment with Divine principles, the more beautiful one becomes.
Similarly, the beauty of our skin is directly related to how we take care of it. In order to achieve true beauty, we need to avoid toxic chemicals and use organic products that are based on regenerative agriculture. These kinds of cosmetics will also help the environment and support the local economy.
Aesthetic experience is a key predictor of the ability to integrate beauty, but it is unclear whether spirituality mediates this relationship. This study examined this by analyzing the relationships between path A (aesthetic experience) and path b (the ability to integrate beauty) while controlling for spirituality. The results suggest that the ability to integrate beauty is mediated by spirituality, which explains why the high intensity of aesthetic experiences predicted the high level of spirituality.
Intellectual
A Platonic philosophy of the 3rd century called Neoplatonism offers a spiritual and mystical approach to beauty. The founder of the school, Plotinus, argued that beauty extends beyond the senses into the world of human understanding and contemplation. This intellectual beauty, he suggested, is a gateway to the divine and the eternal, unchangeable aspects of reality. This philosophical approach to beauty has continued through Renaissance artists who sought divine proportion in their work and through Romantic poets who emphasized beauty as a bridge between the human world and the physical universe.
The 1816 poem “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” is Shelley’s earliest focused attempt to incorporate this concept of beauty into his aesthetic philosophy. He draws on the Romantic ideal of communion with nature, as well as gothic semi-realities and superstitions, to argue that the beauty of knowledge satisfies the soul in a way that mere awe does not. It reveals the innate power of humanity to understand and that this understanding makes each person lovable for his or her intellect.
In the first stanza, Shelley describes “the awful shadow of some unseen Power” that comes and goes over human hearts, bringing awe and ecstasy. In the second stanza, he suggests that whenever this beautiful spirit comes into sight, it lends grace and truth to human thought. But this beauty is also mysterious, and, in the third stanza, Shelley compares it to darkness and emptiness that surrounds or engulfs flames. This beauty nourishes human thought, and it is “Dear, but dearer for its mystery” (l. 45).