The Promise of Beauty

The Promise of Beauty PDF Author: Mimi Thi Nguyen
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 147806000X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
In The Promise of Beauty, Mimi Thi Nguyen explores the relationship between the concept of beauty and narratives of crisis and catastrophe. Nguyen conceptualizes beauty, which, she observes, we turn to in emergencies and times of destruction, as a tool to identify and bridge the discrepancy between the world as it is and what it ought to be. Drawing widely from aesthetic and critical theories, Nguyen outlines how beauty—or its lack—points to the conditions that must exist for it to flourish. She notes that an absence of beauty becomes both a political observation and a call to action to transform the conditions of the situation so as to replicate, preserve, or repair beauty. The promise of beauty can then engender a critique of social arrangements and political structures that would set the foundations for its possibility and presence. In this way, Nguyen highlights the role of beauty in inspiring action toward a more just world.

The Promise of Beauty

The Promise of Beauty PDF Author: Mimi Thi Nguyen
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 147806000X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
In The Promise of Beauty, Mimi Thi Nguyen explores the relationship between the concept of beauty and narratives of crisis and catastrophe. Nguyen conceptualizes beauty, which, she observes, we turn to in emergencies and times of destruction, as a tool to identify and bridge the discrepancy between the world as it is and what it ought to be. Drawing widely from aesthetic and critical theories, Nguyen outlines how beauty—or its lack—points to the conditions that must exist for it to flourish. She notes that an absence of beauty becomes both a political observation and a call to action to transform the conditions of the situation so as to replicate, preserve, or repair beauty. The promise of beauty can then engender a critique of social arrangements and political structures that would set the foundations for its possibility and presence. In this way, Nguyen highlights the role of beauty in inspiring action toward a more just world.

The Promise of Beauty and Why It Matters

The Promise of Beauty and Why It Matters PDF Author: Shakti Maira
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 935264168X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 356

Get Book Here

Book Description
'A concern for beauty would certainly make us better shapers of the world.' - Roger ScrutonThe idea of beauty is highly conflicted terrain. Does it only have to do with how things look? Is it merely prettiness? Is it entirely subjective? Does it serve a function?Historically, beauty has been held in high esteem: 'beauty is truth, truth beauty,' the poet Keats wrote. Why then do the high priests of the arts and the arguably progressive socio-political thinkers of the day shun it? Shakti Maira explains how the problem lies with the confused understanding of beauty and with beauty becoming superficially located: quite literally, on the skin. What would happen, he asks, if beauty were to become central to every aspect of our lives: environment, education, economics and governance? Maira engages eighteen eminent thinkers in a series of conversations around the difficult, enthralling notion of beauty.Scientists explore whether there is an evolutionary purpose to it. Philosophers examine its relationship to truth and goodness. Artists speak of beauty and its rejection. Brain-mind experts consider whether the experience of it strengthens certain neural pathways connected with the qualities of balance, harmony, rhythm and proportion. Activists probe how beauty works in the context of social systems. What emerges is a deeper understanding of beauty and how it is a key to our world: a radical new way of evaluating problems and finding solutions, from the personal to the political, the individual to the universal.

Only a Promise of Happiness

Only a Promise of Happiness PDF Author: Alexander Nehamas
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691148651
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 198

Get Book Here

Book Description
Neither art nor philosophy was kind to beauty during the twentieth century. Much modern art disdains beauty, and many philosophers deeply suspect that beauty merely paints over or distracts us from horrors. Intellectuals consigned the passions of beauty to the margins, replacing them with the anemic and rarefied alternative, "aesthetic pleasure." In Only a Promise of Happiness, Alexander Nehamas reclaims beauty from its critics. He seeks to restore its place in art, to reestablish the connections among art, beauty, and desire, and to show that the values of art, independently of their moral worth, are equally crucial to the rest of life. Nehamas makes his case with characteristic grace, sensitivity, and philosophical depth, supporting his arguments with searching studies of art and literature, high and low, from Thomas Mann's Death in Venice and Manet's Olympia to television. Throughout, the discussion of artworks is generously illustrated. Beauty, Nehamas concludes, may depend on appearance, but this does not make it superficial. The perception of beauty manifests a hope that life would be better if the object of beauty were part of it. This hope can shape and direct our lives for better or worse. We may discover misery in pursuit of beauty, or find that beauty offers no more than a tantalizing promise of happiness. But if beauty is always dangerous, it is also a pressing human concern that we must seek to understand, and not suppress.

Beauty

Beauty PDF Author: John-Mark Miravalle
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
ISBN: 1622827139
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Get Book Here

Book Description
What we moderns have forgotten, the ancients knew well: true beauty heals the soul, draws us to God, and yields lasting happiness. Rich with the wisdom of Plato, Augustine, Aquinas, and St. John Paul II, these pages unpack perennial truths about beauty and rivet them into your soul, opening the eyes of your understanding to the beauty all around us. Offering an abundance of accessible examples, author John Mark Miravalle demonstrates that beauty is neither in the eye of the beholder, nor for the cultivated, the dreamer, or the “hopeless romantic” alone. On the contrary, the ability to understand, recognize, and delight in beauty readies all souls for heaven — and makes it easier for us to get there. From these pages, you'll learn: Why beauty is not just a matter of opinion. The virtues we need to perceive beauty and to enjoy it. How to determine whether an artwork is truly beautiful. The respective roles of reason and emotion in appreciating beauty. How the beauty of nature testifies to God's existence . . . while rejection of God obscures nature's beauty. With the help of these pages, you'll receive fresh eyes to marvel again (or for the first time) at the beauty of nature, music, art, architecture, and, most importantly, the beauty of God, the fountainhead and exemplar of all things on earth that are beautiful.

Passport to Beauty

Passport to Beauty PDF Author: Shalini Vadhera
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 1429973994
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
Throughout the world, every country has age-old, time-tested secrets that women use for looking and feeling beautiful. Shalini Vadhera, celebrity make-up artist and internationally recognized beauty expert takes you on an adventure -- to Europe, Asia, Africa, the United States, South America, Australia and beyond - revealing secrets for luxurious hair, glowing skin, and more. Passport to Beauty features unique, yet simple beauty tips and techniques as well as instructions for creating cleansing masks, exfoliation blends, and moisturizers for hair and body. Learn how women around the world stay beautiful: · turn back the hands of time with a white clay mask like Australian beauties do · refresh your complexion with white tea – an ancient Chinese anti-aging secret · use coconut oil for glossy, shimmering hair as South Asian women have done for centuries A beauty treatment and make-over with an exotic flair is only as far away as your local grocery store – learn how to unleash the beatifying power of yogurt, lemon, olive oil, honey, and other surprising ingredients. Additionally, Shalini Vadhera will introduce you to the secrets of spices, natural remedies, and spa treatments from around the globe. And once you've got your skin and hair looking wonderful, Shalini Vadhera dips into her bag of international beauty tricks and reveals a multitude of techniques for selecting and applying make-up and always looking your absolute best. No matter your latitude or longitude on the globe, by using the information in this book you can truly become a global goddess!

Artistic Visions and the Promise of Beauty

Artistic Visions and the Promise of Beauty PDF Author: Kathleen M. Higgins
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331943893X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume examines the motives behind rejections of beauty often found within contemporary art practice, where much critically acclaimed art is deliberately ugly and alienating. It reflects on the nature and value of beauty, asking whether beauty still has a future in art and what role it can play in our lives generally. The volume discusses the possible “end of art,” what art is, and the relation between art and beauty beyond their historically Western horizons to include perspectives from Asia. The individual chapters address a number of interrelated issues, including: art, beauty and the sacred; beauty as a source of joy and consolation; beauty as a bridge between the natural and the human; beauty and the human form; the role of curatorial practice in defining art; order and creativity; and the distinction between art and craft. The volume offers a valuable addition to cross-cultural dialogue and, in particular, to the sparse literature on art and beauty in comparative context. It demonstrates the relevance of the rich tradition of Asian aesthetics and the vibrant practices of contemporary art in Asia to Western discussions about the future of art and the role of beauty.

Beauty by Design

Beauty by Design PDF Author: Ginger Curtis
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
ISBN: 0736982256
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Get Book Here

Book Description
New Beauty Emerges “Every day we have the opportunity to embrace and celebrate the beauty our homes and lives are designed to express.”—Ginger Curtis Walk through the door and begin the personal journey of creating a sanctuary that reflects who you are—that unique combination of who God made you to be and how you shape life by what matters most. Award-winning designer Ginger Curtis uses her personal experience to inspire your every step with this truth: You are worthy of beauty. Dream of it. Plan for it. And watch it emerge as you create visual moments, let in color and light, select meaningful treasures, and allow the smallest details to shine. This is the home made for you. This is beauty by design.

The Promise of Amazing

The Promise of Amazing PDF Author: Robin Constantine
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062279505
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Get Book Here

Book Description
Robin Constantine's New Jersey romance The Promise of Amazing is a sexy, poignant, funny, and authentic debut novel that will appeal to fans of books by Stephanie Perkins, Sarah Mlynowski, and Jennifer E. Smith. Wren Caswell is average. Ranked in the middle of her class at Sacred Heart, she's not popular, not a social misfit. Wren is the quiet good girl who's always done what she's supposed to—only now, in her junior year, this passive strategy is backfiring. She wants to change but doesn't know how. Grayson Barrett was the king of St. Gabe's: star of the lacrosse team, top of his class, and on the fast track to a brilliant future—until he was expelled for being a "term-paper pimp." Now Gray is in a downward spiral and needs to change but doesn't know how. One fateful night, their paths cross at Wren's family's Arthurian-themed catering hall. What follows is the complicated, awkward, hilarious, and tender tale of two teens shedding their pasts, figuring out who they are—and falling in love.

Fewer, Better Things

Fewer, Better Things PDF Author: Glenn Adamson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1632869640
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the former director of the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, a timely and passionate case for the role of the well-designed object in the digital age. Curator and scholar Glenn Adamson opens Fewer, Better Things by contrasting his beloved childhood teddy bear to the smartphones and digital tablets children have today. He laments that many children and adults are losing touch with the material objects that have nurtured human development for thousands of years. The objects are still here, but we seem to care less and know less about them. In his presentations to groups, he often asks an audience member what he or she knows about the chair the person is sitting in. Few people know much more than whether it's made of wood, plastic, or metal. If we know little about how things are made, it's hard to remain connected to the world around us. Fewer, Better Things explores the history of craft in its many forms, explaining how raw materials, tools, design, and technique come together to produce beauty and utility in handmade or manufactured items. Whether describing the implements used in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, the use of woodworking tools, or the use of new fabrication technologies, Adamson writes expertly and lovingly about the aesthetics of objects, and the care and attention that goes into producing them. Reading this wise and elegant book is a truly transformative experience.

The Promise

The Promise PDF Author: Robert J. Morgan
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 0805464824
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
Bestselling author Morgan applies the remarkable words of Romans 8: 28 and other related Bible verses to real-life stories of hope overcoming heartache.