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jazzy_daveJohn Armstrong "The Secret Power Of Beauty" (Penguin)
This book traces the history of philosophical conceptions of beauty. It compares various theories about why we find certain objects and ideas beautiful, such as the balance between uniformity & variety, the importance of an object's function, mathematical proportions, and the friendship of the parts. He then talks about why beauty is so important to us, and so on. Thankfully, Armstrong has a writing style that has just the right balance between technical and poetic language. It's not off-puttingly clinical and scientific, but it's not verbose to the point of vagueness either. By the time you've finished the book, you've got this enriched appreciation for everything you've ever loved.
This book traces the history of philosophical conceptions of beauty. It compares various theories about why we find certain objects and ideas beautiful, such as the balance between uniformity & variety, the importance of an object's function, mathematical proportions, and the friendship of the parts. He then talks about why beauty is so important to us, and so on. Thankfully, Armstrong has a writing style that has just the right balance between technical and poetic language. It's not off-puttingly clinical and scientific, but it's not verbose to the point of vagueness either. By the time you've finished the book, you've got this enriched appreciation for everything you've ever loved.
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