NAME AND SURNAME: NOMPUMELELO MDLULI
STUDENT NUMBER: 19797273
THL1501 EXAMINATION
11 JUNE 2025
, QUESTION 1
In her 1998 book titled Basic Issues in Aesthetics, Marcia Eaton gave some consideration to the more
profound troubles in defining such terms as “beauty” and “aesthetics.” She argues that these concepts
remain elusive because they do not have clear definitions, let alone definitions universally accepted by
all-in-part through their subjective nature. This essay seeks to argue that there can be only a subjective
understanding and functioning of these terms, inasmuch as their very nature derives from perception,
experience, and cultural setting on the part of man.
Eaton notes, people tend to state confidently that something is beautiful or aesthetically pleasing yet
have difficulty expressing what they mean by that. For example, one person might see the sunset as
beautiful because of its myriad colors, while another might find it dull or uninspiring. These opposing
views derive from feelings, memories, culture, and individual sensibilities that provide the basis of one’s
aesthetic nature. Heightened variations in perception naturally pose problems-of-if-not-impossibilities-
for objectifying a precise definition of beauty.
Eaton further observes that a person might find an object beautiful insofar as it has harmony or
symmetry or even vividness that another person will consider trivial or even unremarkable. For instance,
a painting done in the minimalist vein, with simple geometric shapes, can be esteemed by some as
beautiful for its sheer elegance, yet others may name it boring or meaningless. Matters as the same
features of clean lines or colors in one single tone can be variably interpreted by differing aesthetic
criteria or, to say the least, subjective ones. This variability indeed points at an extremely subjective
nature of aesthetic judgments; the same thing will look very appealing to one, yet utterly unworthy to
another.
Eaton evokes objects of art such as Carl Andre’s Stone Field to explicate how different subjectivities
influence the understanding of art and beauty in the world. To some viewers, impossibly profound, the
arrangement of stones may be a challenge in the traditional notion of aesthetics; others see it as merely
vandalism, or an unworthy disbursement of public funds. The divergence of opinion rests on individual
perspectives, cultural values, and personal experiences that shape aesthetic appreciation. No agreement
arises because these responses are personal; they emanate from the subject’s inner worldview rather
than from some objective standard.
Likewise, societally relevant response to music, film, or fashion is an expression of this very subjectivity.
One might find a song to be deeply moving in terms of their emotions, while another finds that very
song to be overly sentimental or downright boring. We may thus learn that observation does not
concern merely the object but is modified by the emotional state of the subject, cultural background,
and even taste in wideulating yet very subjective.
Eaton’s statements hint at the inability to set universal criteria for beauty and aesthetic values due to
the contrasting reactions of those being confronted with the aesthetic object. If beauty were an
objective property of an object, it would follow that everyone should agree on what beauty is, which
evidently is not the case. The incidence is best accepted in the maxim “Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder”- aesthetic judgments are deeply personal and, as a rule, vary from person to person. Such
variations show that aesthetic terms cannot meaningfully be defined independently of socio-individual
determination.
STUDENT NUMBER: 19797273
THL1501 EXAMINATION
11 JUNE 2025
, QUESTION 1
In her 1998 book titled Basic Issues in Aesthetics, Marcia Eaton gave some consideration to the more
profound troubles in defining such terms as “beauty” and “aesthetics.” She argues that these concepts
remain elusive because they do not have clear definitions, let alone definitions universally accepted by
all-in-part through their subjective nature. This essay seeks to argue that there can be only a subjective
understanding and functioning of these terms, inasmuch as their very nature derives from perception,
experience, and cultural setting on the part of man.
Eaton notes, people tend to state confidently that something is beautiful or aesthetically pleasing yet
have difficulty expressing what they mean by that. For example, one person might see the sunset as
beautiful because of its myriad colors, while another might find it dull or uninspiring. These opposing
views derive from feelings, memories, culture, and individual sensibilities that provide the basis of one’s
aesthetic nature. Heightened variations in perception naturally pose problems-of-if-not-impossibilities-
for objectifying a precise definition of beauty.
Eaton further observes that a person might find an object beautiful insofar as it has harmony or
symmetry or even vividness that another person will consider trivial or even unremarkable. For instance,
a painting done in the minimalist vein, with simple geometric shapes, can be esteemed by some as
beautiful for its sheer elegance, yet others may name it boring or meaningless. Matters as the same
features of clean lines or colors in one single tone can be variably interpreted by differing aesthetic
criteria or, to say the least, subjective ones. This variability indeed points at an extremely subjective
nature of aesthetic judgments; the same thing will look very appealing to one, yet utterly unworthy to
another.
Eaton evokes objects of art such as Carl Andre’s Stone Field to explicate how different subjectivities
influence the understanding of art and beauty in the world. To some viewers, impossibly profound, the
arrangement of stones may be a challenge in the traditional notion of aesthetics; others see it as merely
vandalism, or an unworthy disbursement of public funds. The divergence of opinion rests on individual
perspectives, cultural values, and personal experiences that shape aesthetic appreciation. No agreement
arises because these responses are personal; they emanate from the subject’s inner worldview rather
than from some objective standard.
Likewise, societally relevant response to music, film, or fashion is an expression of this very subjectivity.
One might find a song to be deeply moving in terms of their emotions, while another finds that very
song to be overly sentimental or downright boring. We may thus learn that observation does not
concern merely the object but is modified by the emotional state of the subject, cultural background,
and even taste in wideulating yet very subjective.
Eaton’s statements hint at the inability to set universal criteria for beauty and aesthetic values due to
the contrasting reactions of those being confronted with the aesthetic object. If beauty were an
objective property of an object, it would follow that everyone should agree on what beauty is, which
evidently is not the case. The incidence is best accepted in the maxim “Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder”- aesthetic judgments are deeply personal and, as a rule, vary from person to person. Such
variations show that aesthetic terms cannot meaningfully be defined independently of socio-individual
determination.
