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Physical beauty: only skin deep?
1Department of Medical Ethics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Care, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. hilhorst@feg.fgg.eur.nl
Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy
|April 17, 2002
Summary
Physical beauty is increasingly valued, impacting healthcare. Understanding beauty
Area of Science:
- Medical ethics
- Philosophy of aesthetics
Background:
- Growing societal emphasis on personal appearance and physical beauty.
- Implications for healthcare policies and medical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To conceptually clarify the meaning, value, and function of beauty.
- To distinguish between physical and artistic beauty.
- To explore the Kantian notion of beauty and its relation to personal identity.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of beauty.
- Distinction between instrumental and attained beauty.
- Application of Kantian philosophy to aesthetic judgments.
Main Results:
- Beauty judgments are relative to individuals and their contexts.
- Physical beauty has instrumental and attained dimensions.
- Physical beauty is integral to shaping personal identity.
Conclusions:
- A deeper understanding of physical beauty, linked to identity formation, is crucial for healthcare.
- Ethical healthcare policies require acknowledging the significance of beauty in human life.
- Kantian aesthetics provides a framework for evaluating beauty in a medical context.