39 What makes something beautiful?

The proverb says that ’beauty is in the eye of the beholder’. It means, of course, that there is no definition of the concept of ’beauty’, it remains subjective, personal and elusive. However, this is just a too-easy half-truth. Ok, two people in love may see in the other a beauty not visible to the outside world. This might be called ’relative beauty’, and it might be only distantly related to ’authentic beauty’, which is necessary and indeed fundamental to our everyday lives on earth. Think about, for instance, the beauty of a rose or a sunset, which are considered beautiful to everyone. Of course, you might argue that these remarkable images have become cliches, because they are overused by art and advertising. You might feel the image of a many-hued rainbow against dramatic clouds would be a rather cheesy choice for a postcard, but it will definitely continue to amaze us in its natural setting.