Help Me With This Damn Philosophy Paper

[WildBobAA]

I need an example of 2 similar objects where one thing is definately more beautiful than the other. Please do not confuse beauty with how attractive something looks as attractiveness is subjective and differs from person to person. I was thinking of two similar paintings that were painted for different reasons and these reasons would for sure make one more beautiful than the other but I am having a hard time coming up with these reasons.

Serious replies only please.

[Phantaroth]

That sounds like a dumbass question. Things can't be definantly more beautiful then each other...

[WildBobAA]

That's a dumbass reply, explain your reasoning.

[Pelion]

beauty is subjective...

How about: A golfball and the moon. Theyre kinda similar but golfballs suck.

[WildBobAA]

I don't necessarily need to agree with this. The assignemnt was to write an arguement paper supporting Plato's claim from the Symposium that there is an ultimate reality of beauty. I just need to find a feasable example that I could use to support the claim that there are different levels of beauty and then I'll be done.

[a500lbgorilla]

Beautiful : hot boobs.

Not beautiful : man boobs.

[WildBobAA]

Serious replies only please.

[midas06]

Mountains vs a garbage bag

[Xianti]

Compare dawn to dusk. Both similar in appearance, but have completely different reasons for being.

You could argue that dawn is more beautiful because it is the beginning, not the end.

[WildBobAA]

Hmm interesting. I'm just glad I got a real reply. X

[Xianti]

[Blinky]

Hrm.

Interesting paper topic. How about
mother and father?

Both are forebearers but in a classic sense, the mother nourishes, whereas the father provides. For many the bond between mother and child is stronger than that of father and child. Could there be a "greater" beauty in that mother-child relationship? Consider the image of a mother holding her newborn child immediately after labour vs the father doing the same thing.

[drmcboy]

My love for Ohio State is beautiful.

But not compared to my love for my wife.

[chardrian]

Is the paper just that you have to come up with an example of something that is beautiful jsut cuz it's beautiful - or explain why Plato believes there is an "absolute beauty"?

Plato needed an "absolute beauty" or "absolute jutice" becuase he felt this was the only way to counter the sophists who believed that beauty and justice were just personal opinions. Plato felt that if "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" was accepted than all legal and moral discourse would simply die.

Plato tried to argue that things are beautiful not because of their shape (hot boobs versus man boobs) or color but becuase they contained the attribute of a quantifiable and identifiable "beauty."

As an example, sunset over a body of water is beautiful not because of the color changes it gives off but because a sunset over a body of water contains "beauty". If giving off color changes was the reason for a susnet's beauty than watching someone barf out rainbow ice-cream would be beautiful, and clearly watching someone vomit is not beautiful. Plato would argue that's becuase watching someone vomit has no inherent "beauty."

[jdubs]

Is the paper just that you have to come up with an example of something that is beautiful jsut cuz it's beautiful - or explain why Plato believes there is an "absolute beauty"?

Plato needed an "absolute beauty" or "absolute jutice" becuase he felt this was the only way to counter the sophists who believed that beauty and justice were just personal opinions. Plato felt that if "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" was accepted than all legal and moral discourse would simply die.

Plato tried to argue that things are beautiful not because of their shape (hot boobs versus man boobs) or color but becuase they contained the attribute of a quantifiable and identifiable "beauty."

As an example, sunset over a body of water is beautiful not because of the color changes it gives off but because a sunset over a body of water contains "beauty". If giving off color changes was the reason for a susnet's beauty than watching someone barf out rainbow ice-cream would be beautiful, and clearly watching someone vomit is not beautiful. Plato would argue that's becuase watching someone vomit has no inherent "beauty."

and there you have it.....

[Miffed22001]

why dont u just go for a song and then a crappy cover

[Lukie]

Compare birth to death. Ever hear of the 'circle of life'?

You could argue that birth is more beautiful because it is the beginning, not the end.

[Lukie]

xianti sorry for basically quoting you, but it's what i thought of when I read bob's OP, and for basically the reasons that you said.

[Xianti]

We're on the same page. I just took a more symbolic approach.

[euphoricism]

Compare birth to death. Ever hear of the 'circle of life'?

You could argue that birth is more beautiful because it is the beginning, not the end.

Its a philo paper man. Gotta proclaim death is more beautiful.

[WildBobAA]

Thanks for the replies guys.

{locked}

[a500lbgorilla]

{unlocked}

Can't just kill a conversation that could turn funny now that you've got what you need.

[Phantaroth]

It's stupid because Plato is either wrong, or atleast, not able to be proven correct. So I don't see the point in answering a question that asumes he is right.

[gabe]

{unlocked}

Can't just kill a conversation that could turn funny now that you've got what you need.

you got a good point there rilla

[Staresy]

I need an example of 2 similar objects where one thing is definately more beautiful than the other.

Courtie in a thong versus Spoonit in a thong.

I need an example of 2 similar objects where one thing is definately more beautiful than the other.

Courtie in a thong versus Spoonit in a thong.

No, one needs to be more beautiful than the other.

[DavSimon]

Part of your answer lies in understanding Book VII of The Republic and the allegory of the cave. Things are beautiful when they are closer to thier true nature or essence. They do not need to be aesthetically pleasing to be beautiful...they simply must be true. Think of two objects that have exactly the same purpose, however one of them fulfills its nature better than the other. Imagine two identically proportioned wood tables only one table has a leg that is shorter than the others....inperceptable to the eye...but if you put pressue in the table it wobbles. The more beautiful table is the one that more faithlully approaches the idea of "table" or the one that more completely fills its purpose. Read the allegory of the cave....and all of The Republic really....understanding what Plato meant by and where he was going with "forms" is crucial in your paper.

Compare dawn to dusk. Both similar in appearance, but have completely different reasons for being.

You could argue that dawn is more beautiful because it is the beginning, not the end.

While I wouldnt criticize this answer it is more poetic than accurate, if you agree with my definition of Plato's ideas of beauty. Both dusk and dawn have seperate/independant purposes....ushering in the night....ushering in the day. Comparing one dawn to another would be more accurate approach....which dawn is the closest approximation to the metaphysical "ideal dawn"....whichever dawn that is....be it dawn 1 or dawn 365....that is the most beautiful dawn.

[swiggidy]

Probably too easy, but...

vs :As: :Ah:

[LeFou]

Dav is close, and knows his Plato, but there is a Platonic aesthetic for judging things beautiful, seaparate from the functional attributes of an object. The table with one leg shorte is less beautiful because its parts are not in harmony. Proportion, harmony, symmetry -- these were thought by Plato to be the fundamental criteria of the beautiful.

So if you need an easy-to-explain example, take a butterfly. Replace one of its wings with, say, an oyster. For an even more dramatic effect, replace one wing with a wheelbarrow full of elephant dung, breaking proportion (of sizes) as well as symmetry... and so on.

[SinkRox]

i read a really good philosophy forum, try asking there: http://forums.philosophyforums.com/