Beauty Is

Beauty is…
By: James Harvey

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a famous aphorism by Plato that is often misquoted from his true words. As cliché as this may sound, some people agree with this definition of beauty. People also concur that beauty is the ability to appeal to the senses. Obviously, there is more than one definition of what beauty is in this world. With these numerous amounts of meanings there is bound to be contradictions; however, try and grasp this idea that links all the other definitions together: beauty is not merely in the eye but also in the imagination of the beholder. In simpler words, beauty is imagination.
Of course there is going to be some disagreement that beauty is imagination. Someone may think that beauty is defined as something else. What beauty is to one person will be different than another person’s view on what beauty is to them. Some may say that beauty is the sunrise, peaking out of its hiding spot with trickling red, orange, and yellow sunlight. Whereas another person may think beauty is somebody sitting down, and typing an essay about what beauty is to them. What exactly makes people have different views on this topic? The answer is the diverse levels of imagination.
Now think of a scene where a pregnant woman is going through excruciating pain at a hospital. The woman constantly screams in agony, and the only thing on her mind is everything to be done and over with. The doctor is trying his hardest to end this troublesome process by keeping her calm. In a few moments, a set of new eyes is set on the world, a newborn baby! Here is where the some may say that the process of birth is beauty, and others may say it’s sickening, and doesn’t want to see such a thing in their lives.
As last mentioned, the levels of people’s imaginations are very diverse. A question containing why this occurs is similar to asking why we all don’t like the same exact things, or why we all don’t have the same personality. In other words,...