{"id":2771,"date":"2016-05-13T22:56:29","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T22:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/?post_type=teachertoolkit&#038;p=2771"},"modified":"2024-10-23T12:51:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T19:51:48","slug":"beauty-thinking-about","status":"publish","type":"teachertoolkit","link":"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/beauty-thinking-about\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking About Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2787 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/art-seeking-beauty-300x90.jpg\" alt=\"art-seeking-beauty\" width=\"433\" height=\"130\" srcset=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/art-seeking-beauty-300x90.jpg 300w, https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/art-seeking-beauty-600x180.jpg 600w, https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/art-seeking-beauty.jpg 968w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 433px) 100vw, 433px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Beauty: In the eye of the beholder or is there something more to it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This unit invites high school students to explore the meaning of \u201cbeauty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source Materials:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Plato\u2019s <em>Symposium<\/em> (available in many editions)<\/li>\n<li>Crispin Sartwell\u2019s <em>Six Names of Beauty<\/em> (Routledge, 2004)<\/li>\n<li><em>Puzzles About Art-an Aesthetics Casebook<\/em>, by Battin, Fisher, Moore, and Silvers (Bedford\/St. Martin\u2019s, 1989)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When it comes to discussions about the nature of beauty, typically we go fairly quickly to the adage \u201cBeauty is in the eye of the beholder.\u201d\u00a0 This relativist stance is reassuring in that it signals beauty can mean many different things to different people. Our taste, whatever it might be, is thereby legitimized, and arguing about beauty in any manifestation (nature, art, human beings) becomes unnecessary and impossible.<\/p>\n<p>But is that too glib a response and too fast a move?\u00a0 What are we saying when we label anything as beautiful?\u00a0 That is, what are the markers that generate a response to something as beautiful?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are there certain qualities in the object that make it beautiful (such as clarity, order, balance)?<\/li>\n<li>Do beautiful objects elicit certain emotions or thoughts?<\/li>\n<li>Do beautiful objects confirm certain cultural icons or ideal standards? (But how do those emerge or are chosen?)<\/li>\n<li>Are the personal and idiosyncratic associations of each of us enough to warrant the attribution?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Much as Socrates pushed his listeners to get beyond examples or personal perferences, we find ourselves challenged to explain what about an object earns it the designation of being \u201cbeautiful,\u201d even if we apply the term to wildly different examples.<\/p>\n<p>We also tend to limit beauty to human faces or art, and possibly nature.\u00a0 But what do those all have in common?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Unit Plans<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>These three units could each run for a session or two, a week, or throughout the year, depending upon time or interest. It might serve as an excellent unifying theme for the year. The suggestions below can be adapted to specific situations and time constraints so please use what is helpful and adapt to fit your own community.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2793 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/symposium-with-flute-girl-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"symposium-with-flute-girl\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/symposium-with-flute-girl-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/symposium-with-flute-girl-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/symposium-with-flute-girl.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>I. The <em>Symposium:<\/em> as drama with discussion <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Read the Symposium by Plato out loud in class, assigning parts along with a narrator.\u00a0 Encourage costumes and a dramatic recitation.\u00a0 In preparation for this activity, offer an overview of the storyline as well as an account of culture in 5<sup>th<\/sup> BCE century Athens.<br \/>\n<strong>OR <\/strong>focus on the final speech of Socrates and his account of learning about beauty and love from Diotima.<br \/>\n<em>Materials<\/em>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Symposium-overview.pdf\">Symposium-overview<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Do we love the beautiful? Could we love the ugly?\u00a0 Why or why not?<\/li>\n<li>How many different kinds of beauty can you think of?<\/li>\n<li>What do we mean by the following uses of the word \u2018love?\u201d\n<ol>\n<li>I love pizza.<\/li>\n<li>I love my mom.<\/li>\n<li>I love animals.<\/li>\n<li>I love math.<\/li>\n<li>I love it when you laugh.<\/li>\n<li>I love sports.<\/li>\n<li>I love <em>The Walking Dead<\/em>.<br \/>\nHow many other types of examples can you offer?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>Socrates\u00a0suggests that love and beauty are appreciated in their most pure way at the highest level. What do you think this means and does it make sense today?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2791 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/sixnames-beauty.jpg\" alt=\"sixnames-beauty\" width=\"119\" height=\"160\" \/>II.\u00a0<strong>Sartwell\u2019s <em>Six Names for Beauty<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sartwell examines six different words used to connote beauty from a world-wide cultural perspective. In each case he reflects how that particular conceptual notion of beauty emerges in a wide range of phenomenon, from art to perfume to rugs. Have the students break into teams and assign one chapter, one word for beauty to each team. (You can have them choose as well.) Have each team work through their chapter and prepare a report with images and examples from some of the selections to share with the class.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>How does each word capture a special nuance for beauty?<\/li>\n<li>Are some concepts and their accompanying examples problematic or troublesome? If yes, which ones and why? If not, why?<\/li>\n<li>Are there any common themes that unit all these different words\/concepts for beauty into one?<\/li>\n<li>Bring in something that you think is beautiful (or a representation of it) and present it to the class, associating it with one or more of the names.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2790 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/puzzles-art-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"puzzles-art\" width=\"126\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/puzzles-art-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/puzzles-art.jpg 312w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 126px) 100vw, 126px\" \/>III.\u00a0<strong><em>Puzzles About Art-an Aesthetics Casebook<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This textbook offers an overview and summary of particular problems in aesthetics, and is particularly rich in examples. Each chapter ends with a set of cases for discussion. The chapter on beauty offers ways to think about beauty as both objective and subjective. You will find short accounts of historical and contemporary philosophers who have considered the concept of beauty.<\/p>\n<p><em>Materials:<br \/>\n<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Sartwell-beauty.pdf\">Guide to Sartwell on Beauty<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.plato-philosophy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Beautiful-or-Ugly.pdf\">PDF images: ugly or beautiful?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Activity and discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Use examples from art, nature, or objects in the room to discuss what makes something beautiful. Are there are specific characteristics or criteria you are using?<\/li>\n<li>Is beauty simply \u201cin the eye of the beholder?\u201d Can anything be beautiful?\u00a0 What about:\n<ol>\n<li>Torture<\/li>\n<li>Death<\/li>\n<li>Tornadoes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Solicit other challenge examples and discuss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beauty: In the eye of the beholder or is there something more to it? This unit invites high school students to explore the meaning of \u201cbeauty.\u201d Source Materials: Plato\u2019s Symposium (available in many editions) Crispin Sartwell\u2019s Six Names of Beauty (Routledge, 2004) Puzzles About Art-an Aesthetics Casebook, by Battin, Fisher, Moore, and Silvers (Bedford\/St. Martin\u2019s, <a href=\"https:\/\/plato-philosophy.org\/teachertoolkit\/beauty-thinking-about\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Thinking About Beauty<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16040,"template":"","toolkitcategory":[755,26],"gradelevel":[48],"topics":[302],"class_list":["post-2771","teachertoolkit","type-teachertoolkit","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","toolkitcategory-aesthetics","toolkitcategory-art","gradelevel-high-school-and-beyond","topics-beauty"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Thinking About Beauty - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thinking About Beauty - PLATO - Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beauty: In the eye of the beholder or is there something more to it? This unit invites high school students to explore the meaning of \u201cbeauty.\u201d Source Materials: Plato\u2019s Symposium (available in many editions) Crispin Sartwell\u2019s Six Names of Beauty (Routledge, 2004) Puzzles About Art-an Aesthetics Casebook, by Battin, Fisher, Moore, and Silvers (Bedford\/St. Martin\u2019s, ... 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