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Aesthetic of Beauty
One of the most powerful passages found within Plato's The Republic is that which exists within the Allegory of the Cave. This passage comes near the end of this book and its description about the philosopher kings -- the chosen guardians who are to rule mankind with benign wisdom. Essentially, the Allegory of the Cave is about the notion that there is an intrinsic relationship between goodness and truth, but most men live their lives in an allegorical cave in which they mistake the representations of the true source of truth and goodness (the sun) and the shadows it creates in relative darkness for real truth and never progress to the level that they can see that actual source and live in its light. There is a relationship between this concept and the work of cinematic art known as Memento, a film which was released in 2000. Its protagonist lives in a metaphoric darkness clouded by a poor memory. However, unlike the implications in Plato's allegory, the protagonist of the movie makes it clear that he actually does not want to live in the full light of truth and knowledge.
The preceding thesis is best demonstrated by the ending of Memento....
For the vast duration of the movie, the protagonist -- a relatively young man who used to be happily married and gainfully employed until an attacker killed his wife and rendered him with an incurable condition in which he cannot remember present things beyond 15 minutes -- is attempting to find the attacker. He is figuratively in the dark about who this person is and why the latter destroyed his life as it previously existed. However, at the conclusion of the movie, the protagonist finds someone who tells him the truth about his life. This person tells the protagonist that the latter actually found the attacker a year before and killed him, thereby claiming his revenge. In delivering this revelation to the protagonist, this person exposes him to the truth about the day-to-day, 15 minutes to 15 minutes existence the protagonist has been struggling through for quite some time. However, when confronted with the truth and gaining the metaphorical light of the sun and living in broad daylight as Plato implies men (or at least the philosopher kings) are striving to do, the protagonist chooses to kill the person who gives him this information. In doing so he commits himself to…
Beauty's totality, therefore, is much more than qualities that one can see or perceive with the senses. Yet perhaps the most enduring aspect of beauty and its true value to the world and beyond lies in its capacity to foster love. Quite simply, beauty is loved, and love, at the same time, is certainly beautiful. Walker comes to this conclusion at the end of her essay, in which her low
If one were to dedicate their lives to examining the concept of aesthetics, they would most probably feel sorry when looking back finding that they did not have the chance to actually enjoy what they were studying about. Certain people who actually knew how to enjoy beauty to its full potential motivated their feelings by claiming that they felt something divine. Such a statement is direct proof that these
Beauty Pageants are meant to show the world how poised and well-articulated a young girl is. However, it can also show the world what society thinks a girl should be, beautiful and well-behaved. Girls need to understand that the world is not simply what judges expect in a pageant show. As much as pageant shows want to highlight the talents of young girls, in reality, beauty pageants value beauty and
Price Beauty? 'For though beauty is seen and confessed by all, yet, from the many fruitless attempts to account for the cause of its being so, enquiries on this head have almost been given up" William Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, (1753) Not very encouraging words, but if the great artist William Hogarth felt himself up to the task, we can attempt at least to follow his lead. That beauty is enigmatic
Poetry may be one of the most common vehicles for emotional expression, especially the expression of romantic love. From Milton to Shakespeare, poets have woven words that capture their audiences as well as the object of their affection. Often the verses that talented poets pen linger for years, even centuries, as love is a universal experience. Love poems also appeal to all readers, especially if their language is straightforward and
Beauty of Youth The fact that physical beauty is so obviously apparent that we might never really bother to think about why that is true, or what it is about youth, exactly, that corresponds to physical beauty. It manifests itself directly in many ways, including the age-dependent differences in physique, body composition, skin, hair, nails, and teeth. Youth also corresponds to characteristic functional differences in eyesight, hearing, and vocal tone