Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
The modern way of thinking about beauty is to consider it a diversion. People apologise for finding someone attractive because we think it’s superficial… Armstrong goes back to a much earlier view held by Greek philosophers, which was that our connection to beauty is an interest in goodness more generally. It’s a good starting point for being a decent human being and that is not at all a modern day version of beauty.
John Armstrong’s The Secret Power of Beauty has a tantalising title – why did you choose this collection?
I admit I know the author very well. I partly chose it because it reflects many ideas that I have discussed with him and I also think he writes very well.
His central argument is that beauty is linked with all kinds of values that we find encoded in objects, and that these values can excite and move us just as people can excite and move us. I had not heard discussions of beauty unfolding in this way.
Has the way we think about beauty changed over time?
The modern way of thinking about beauty is to consider it a diversion. People apologise for finding someone attractive because we think it’s superficial. Or if someone is interested in fashion, they’ll say: “I know it’s all a bit frivolous.” Armstrong goes back to a much earlier view held by Greek philosophers, which was that our connection to beauty is connected to deep things and it’s an interest in goodness more generally. It’s a good starting point for being a decent human being and that is not at all a modern day version of beauty.
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Alain de Botton is an internationally renowned author and presenter. His essayistic books on love, architecture, travel and work have become bestsellers in 30 countries, and several have been adapted for television. Alain also started and helps run an educational establishment in London called The School of Life, and in 2009 he became a founding member of Living Architecture.
