Beauty is Not a Luxury

We often treat beauty as secondary—a luxury, an afterthought, or a superficial detail. We prioritize the "serious" demands of business, politics, and technology, relegating the aesthetic to the realm of the frivolous.

However, a deep dive into Western philosophical tradition suggests this perspective is profoundly mistaken. As argued in a piece for Renovatio, beauty, especially the kind found in nature, is not just nice to have; it is indispensable to building and sustaining the common good.

Beauty is, in fact, one of the most powerful catalysts for moral, social, and cognitive health. Here is why the aesthetic power of nature should be viewed as an essential public resource.

The Cognitive Shift: From Local Resident to Citizen of the World

Our daily routines condition us to see the world schematically, focusing only on what serves our immediate, self-centered goals. Beautiful natural encounters possess the unique power to disrupt this narrow focus.

The moment you see something exquisitely beautiful—a vibrant sunset, a serene landscape, or the astonishing detail of a single bird —the experience literally jarrs you out of the conventional schemes by which you order your life.

This jolt triggers a profound cognitive response:

Suspension of Subsumption: You pause, becoming speechless and thought-less, because your mind lacks the general category under which to file the phenomenon.

Triggering Reflection: Your intellectual faculties go into overdrive to make sense of what stopped you. You begin to search for a common thread, connecting this specific moment of beauty to others in the world.

Cosmo-politan Transformation: This process expands your concern from the immediate "here and now" to an ever-wider world. The philosophical result is transformative: aesthetic experiences can assist in turning us from a mere denizen of the here and now into a "cosmo-politan"—a citizen of the world at large.

The Indispensable Link to Conservation

For conservationists, the link between beauty and care is the most pragmatic and vital insight. Simply put, a world perceived as beautiful is one whose preservation we crave.

When we encounter astonishing natural beauty, it immediately widens our ambit of appreciation. For instance, realizing the exquisite beauty of a single hummingbird causes us to promote all birds to the rank of potential objects of aesthetic regard. Our visual world becomes richer, and suddenly, previously overlooked areas are brimming with "delightful abundance" waiting to be uncovered.

Crucially, the care emerging from aesthetic veneration is often far more sensitive, circumspect, and situation-adequate than actions brought forth solely by:

Enlightened Self-Interest: (Preserving nature only as a resource for future human consumption.)

Moral Duty: (Preserving nature only out of respect for the rights of future generations.)

We care for what we love, and the love (or Biophilia) that grows from perceiving natural beauty is the most powerful and enduring force for preservation.

Beyond Transactional Thinking

Finally, beauty is essential for fostering a healthier society by improving our relationships with one another.

The appreciation of beauty is defined philosophically as a "disinterested pleasure." It is not a transactional experience; we don't admire a waterfall because we expect it to pay us back. This unselfish regard naturally spills over into our interactions with other people, creating non-instrumental social relations.

When we share an experience of beauty—whether it's beholding a painting in a museum or watching a sunset together—we forge a newfound community of appreciation. This community forms not through coercion or shared economic interest, but through voluntary, shared human delight.

By providing public access to art, science, and the aesthetic wonders of the natural world, institutions and exhibits are not just entertaining. They are performing an indispensable public service that restores our cognitive balance, drives ethical conservation, and fosters the unselfish bonds necessary for the common good.

Source: This article is based on the essay, "Why Beauty is Indispensable to the Common Good," by Claus Dierksmeier, originally published in Renovatio.