What is Beauty?

Is beauty intellectual, emotional, or experiential? Or perhaps none of the above?​

We are often told that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder” when confronted with an object whose beauty is open to interpretation. Why are we told this? Is it because beauty is intellectually subjective, or because designating something as ugly may insult the creator of the object, or because beauty is experiential and thus different to all? Some may say “all of the above”.

If all of the above responses applied —that beauty is subjective, personal, and experiential—then would it not mean that other aspects of our reality fall within a similar categorization? Religion is typically discussed in similar terms, making it difficult to reach a consensus. However, if it were true that beauty is highly personal, then why do so many people share an intrinsic understanding that some things are more beautiful than other things?

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