Paris, Panos  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2549-1075
2024.
On beauty and wellformedness.
British Journal of Aesthetics
10.1093/aesthj/ayae047
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Abstract
Taking my cue from the longest-standing theory of beauty to date, which identified beauty with formal properties such as order, harmony, and proportion, I argue that wellformedness—understood under a tripartite account comprising abstract, categorial, and functional species—is a necessary condition for beauty, which itself comprises three corresponding species. To this end, I offer a new conception of wellformedness along with a clear taxonomy of both beauty and wellformedness. My account reverses the common tendency to treat species of beauty that are independent of considerations of objects’ functions or kinds as paradigmatic and others as derivative, construing instead all three species as interrelated. In doing so, my proposal sheds considerable light on the concept of beauty, provides a measure of objectivity in our understanding thereof, clarifies the conceptual terrain in the philosophy of beauty, and elucidates some central links between beauty, form, and our interests and values.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Schools: | Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| ISSN: | 0007-0904 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 23 September 2024 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 17 September 2024 |
| Last Modified: | 13 Apr 2026 09:47 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/172321 |
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