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Beauty as a Reaction -- A Way to See it (Short Article)

Updated: May 16


Beauty is a result of having a specific feeling that does not have a name in English, but does exist in Hebrew.


In Hebrew, the word "beauty" comes from the action of being "beautified." This action, as a noun, is also an emotion. In English, we could call this emotion "beautifition," even though this word does not officially exist in English.


So, everything that is beautiful must make you feel "beautified." This could mean feeling wonder, awe, fascination, intrigue, or something similar.


We can compare this to the word "disgusting." Disgusting simply means something or someone that makes someone else, or even themselves, disgusted.


Therefore, technically, beauty is an action, or more specifically, a reaction. It is a trait that leads someone to a specific reaction, either in their behavior, feelings, or thoughts.


Because different things and beings make different people react differently, beauty is indeed subjective. However, there are also things that we can agree on a collective level that are indeed beautiful, just as there are things that many of us find disgusting.

I disagree with the association of objectivity with collective agreement. Just because a group of people agree on something does not make it true or false. This is how democracy works, but not how logic works. If we all agree that there is a tomato behind a locked door, but there is not, will a tomato suddenly appear in the room just because we are all convinced that it is there?


Collective agreement cannot change the original, necessary definition of words. For example, in Hebrew, the word for beauty means something that makes you feel beautified. However, this does not mean that beauty is always beautifying in a universal, absolute sense.

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Tomasio A. Rubinshtein, Philosocom's Founder & Writer

I am a philosopher from Israel, author of several books in 2 languages, and Quora's Top Writer of the year 2018. I'm also a semi-hermit who has decided to dedicate his life to writing and sharing my articles across the globe. Several podcasts on me, as well as a radio interview, have been made since my career as a writer. More information about me can be found here.

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