Reading and writing assignments - Essay Example

Task: Beauty Beauty is a sense of quality that is accompanied by a feeling of happiness and confidence about one’s being. This, however, should not be treated as the full definition of beauty. Different people have different definitions of this term. In his definition of beauty, Burke attempts to list the terms that describe beauty as among other aspects, small and smooth. Burke’s objective about beauty is, on the contrary, not true because the terms he uses to describe it are relative. What is considered as small should be in relation to another that is large.

Similarly, a surface may be smooth with respect to a rough one and in turn this smooth one considered as rough when compared to a smoother one.Burke’s definition of beauty isonly limited to a personal level. These terms that he uses are more inclined towards effeminacy as they suggest passiveness and submission. This implies that his definition excludes males. A subjective definition of beauty looks at the impression created on the beholder and hence is said to be in the eyes of the beholder.

The same is also echoed by St. Thomas Aquinasin the Summa Theologica in his development of the concept of beauty. Beauty should not only be looked at interms of the cognitive or emotive aspects. It, therefore, should not be stated as only lying in the eyes of the beholder. This is also because beauty can be defined interms of the goodness of a person and their personality which gives a perception of beauty to the general public. A person with adorable morals and enviable personality creates a feeling of passion from the public and so is stated to be beautiful.

Thus, beauty is an appealpresented to the public but does not necessarily lie in one’s cognitive and emotive judgments. Works CitedLakoff, Tolmach and Scher, Raquel. Face Value, the Politics of Beauty. London: Routledge, 1984. Print.