Uploaded July 2020 | Updated September 2026, 18 hours ago
From time to time we are struck with something we may deem “beautiful”. We see a work of art, a landscape, or a face that speaks to an almost ephemeral ideal which demands our attention, acknowledgement and contemplation. But why does this occur? What is it that we, as individuals, are perceiving as beautiful? And what exactly is beauty anyway? In exploring this largely taken for granted dimension to human experience we ask: What place should it hold in our lives, and what value do we hold for it - and it for us?
This week on MindMatters we explore and expand on some common conceptions of things beautiful - from the mundane to the sublime. And we see how noticing and arranging things to be beautiful can be an invocation of our greatest ideals and values. In a time and place where we are surrounded by ugliness, the gifts and astonishment that may be found in beauty may be one more key in connecting to the highest part of the Universe, and to ourselves.
Scruton's book: smile.amazon.com/Beauty-Short-Introduction-Roger-Scruton/dp/0199229759
Collingwood's book: smile.amazon.com/dp/1614275602
show mp3: media.sott.net/srn/20200716mnd-the-ideal-and-value-of-beauty.mp3
From time to time we are struck with something we may deem “beautiful”. We see a work of art, a landscape, or a face that speaks to an almost ephemeral ideal which demands our attention, acknowledgement and contemplation. But why does this occur? What is it that we, as individuals, are perceiving as beautiful? And what exactly is beauty anyway? In exploring this largely taken for granted dimension to human experience we ask: What place should it hold in our lives, and what value do we hold for it - and it for us?
This week on MindMatters we explore and expand on some common conceptions of things beautiful - from the mundane to the sublime. And we see how noticing and arranging things to be beautiful can be an invocation of our greatest ideals and values. In a time and place where we are surrounded by ugliness, the gifts and astonishment that may be found in beauty may be one more key in connecting to the highest part of the Universe, and to ourselves.
Scruton's book: smile.amazon.com/Beauty-Short-Introduction-Roger-Scruton/dp/0199229759
Collingwood's book: smile.amazon.com/dp/1614275602
show mp3: media.sott.net/srn/20200716mnd-the-ideal-and-value-of-beauty.mp3
