Winfried Menninghaus: The promise of beauty
The dark blue bag books from the house Suhrkamp apply in particular to social scientists as feared, they often include audit-related material presented in the most boring imaginable form. No, many of them are truly no attention magnet, but this was where I read voluntarily and devoured - from start to finish.
represent complex simple, do not Menninghaus in this book. But he manages effortlessly something else: the reader the beauty of the to lead German before your eyes!
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"Survival of the fittest", formulated as the quintessence of Darwinian evolution theory of Herbert Spencer, the perspective narrows to natural selection and leaves out of account, in addition to physical strength and great adaptability of another factor important influence on the Artentwicklung . - Including humans - was: the beauty
aesthetic preferences coupled with the ability to make aesthetic judgments, not only have substantially the present form of animal and human influenced. They can also be interpreted as the motor of cultural development: art and fashion can bring in a line with the extravagant peacock's tail or the female breast.
was already in ancient Greek beauty at a premium, the aesthetic body was almost venerated. Today more than ever, efforts are being made to produce the state of physical attractiveness and preserved. The desire for beauty has not only the whole cosmetics industry. Plastic surgeons, health clubs, the fashion industry ... they all benefit equally from, it seems, collective obsession with beauty.
So what is the truth in beauty? What is its promise? The answer is simple: It is happiness. Beauty promises happiness, but paradoxically, not the person who it has. Quite the contrary: Attractive appearance means danger to life and limb. Hyakinthus, Narcissus and Adonis are examples of a number of mythical hero, whose own beauty's doom. The peacock? His magnificent plumage makes it a true Beau of the bird world - and a bright target. Round hip is considered the sexiest accessory of the female figure at high-flight absolute hindrance. But these are the two so-called sexual Dismorphismen not faulty designs of nature. Rather, they are seen as physical ornaments (modes) in the context of sexual selection - Were true, thanks to constant aesthetic preferences of their constituents - that is sexually guided mate choice. Both the aesthetic preferences ("key") and the general ability to make aesthetic judgments ("sense of beauty") are part of the genetic heritage. Therefore, the statement that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, to be revised at this time, at least in part: Individual taste and epoch-dependent trends may indeed very special varieties of beauty at the center, but beyond some general aesthetic principles, all Limits: time, sex, race and social class. Experimental findings show that has been done regarding preferences in basic parameters such as facial and body proportions, skin complexions, hair type, etc. Since ancient times, 'What pleased the ancient Greeks like us today. And although the formation of an arbitrary Ornaments - random - is it always follows an observable pattern that is known by the somewhat unwieldy name: The Humboldt-Darwinian principle of reinforcement of differences. Female breasts, full lips, or about the hair in humans as characteristics of the "physical attractness" after This principle emerged. The principle can also serve as an explanation for the Extreme Mini-mode or the appearance of new trends and beauty ideals. ___
"The promise of beauty" is in its interdisciplinary approach were not previously undertaken attempt to explain the phenomenon of physical Attraktivät as a "signature of the present" get at scientifically. Selected articles from the fields of biology, philosophy, sociology and psychology are complementary to the first-class and sophisticated commentary of the zeitgeist, as its major component the author of "unleashing consumption of beauty and beauty work "leads. Finally
the link to the meeting on spiegel.de.
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