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Beauty and aesthetics

Essays and videos on philosophy, the history of ideas, ethics and life’s big questions

Beauty and aesthetics Bioethics Comparative philosophy Cosmopolitanism Death Ethics History of ideas Knowledge Logic and probability Meaning and the good life Metaphysics Philosophy of language Philosophy of mind Philosophy of religion Philosophy of science Political philosophy Thinkers and theories Values and beliefs Virtues and vices

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Illustration of an ancient Greek temple with the golden ratio spiral overlay, featuring bright colours and clear skies.

videoMathematics

Spiral into the ‘golden ratio’ – and separate the myths from the maths

4 minutes

A large white cathedral with golden domes near a river, surrounded by trees with autumn colours.

essayArchitecture

The replica and the original

Architectural copies of lost structures require reckoning with history and heritage. At what cost is the past rebuilt?

Elizabeth Kostina

Photo of a modern house built over a waterfall, surrounded by dense green forest and a rocky stream.

videoArchitecture

A lush tour of Fallingwater – the Frank Lloyd Wright design that changed architecture

14 minutes

Painting of a girl with a pearl earring in an ornate frame, viewed by three people in a gallery setting.

essayArt

The ecstatic swoon

As Stendhal knew, the reason for art is to make you feel. Do not try to grasp the artwork: allow it to grasp you instead

Robert D Zaretsky

Black and white photo of a man with glasses and a beard, resting his chin on his hand, wearing a suit.

videoArt

Background music was the radical invention of a trailblazing composer

17 minutes

Painting of a stormy sea with two sailing ships in distress and people struggling on the rocky shore.

videoBeauty and aesthetics

In art, the sublime is a feedback loop, evolving with whatever’s next to threaten us

9 minutes

Photo of three vertical beams of red laser light in a dark room creating a glowing effect on the floor.

essayPhilosophy of science

Aha = wow

We surveyed thousands of scientists in four countries and learned just how important beauty is to them

Bridget Ritz & Brandon Vaidyanathan

Abstract painting with geometric shapes, lines and circles in various colours on a beige background.

videoBeauty and aesthetics

Can you see music in this painting? How synaesthesia fuelled Kandinsky’s art

10 minutes

Painting of two anthropomorphic peacocks in 18th-century attire in front of a stately home surrounded by trees.

essayBeauty and aesthetics

Is beauty natural?

Charles Darwin was as fascinated by extravagant ornament in nature as Jane Austen was in culture. Did their explanations agree?

Abigail Tulenko

A smiling elderly man in a cluttered electronics shop with various gadgets and boxes surrounding him.

essayHome

The joy of clutter

The world sees Japan as a paragon of minimalism. But its hidden clutter culture shows that ‘more’ can be as magical as ‘less’

Matt Alt

Still life with musical instruments, sheet music, books, and a small statue on a table draped with a richly patterned red and gold curtain.

essayMusic

A novel kind of music

So-called ‘classical’ music was as revolutionary as the modern novel in its storytelling, harmony and depth

Joel Sandelson

Painting of two clothed men and a naked woman picnicking in a forest, with another woman in the background near a pond.

videoArt

Creating art that was aware of itself – and the viewer – made Manet the first modernist

15 minutes

Intricate artwork of robed women with long, flowing hair in a forest, surrounding a glowing, veiled woman adorned with flowers.

essayBeauty and aesthetics

All aquiver

The Decadent movement taught that you should live your life with the greatest intensity – a dangerous and thrilling challenge

Kate Hext

Two wooden chairs with a unique, organic design stand in a lush garden surrounded by green plants and yellow flowers. A small tree in the background appears to be pruned in an artistic manner, enhancing the natural aesthetic.

essayDesign and fashion

Sitting on the art

Given its intimacy with the body and deep play on form and function, furniture is a ripely ambiguous artform of its own

Emma Crichton Miller

A person is sitting on the edge of a traditional Japanese building, looking out at a lush garden. Sunlight illuminates the foliage, creating a serene atmosphere.

videoArchitecture

The celebrated architect who took inspiration from sitting, waiting and contemplating

29 minutes

Painting of a nude woman standing on a seashell, with two figures blowing wind from the left and a woman offering a cloak on the right.

videoArt

More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution

19 minutes

Stephen Fry stands at a podium, wearing a checkered blazer, pink shirt, and ‘Choose Love’ badge, speaking with an expressive gesture.

videoMeaning and the good life

Why strive? Stephen Fry reads Nick Cave’s letter on the threat of computed creativity

5 minutes

Marble statue depicting Apollo and Daphne, set against a detailed, ornate ceiling in a classical style room. Daphne is reaching upward with flowing hair.

videoArt

The overlooked polymath whose theatrical oeuvre made all of Rome a stage

30 minutes

German man wearing sunglasses and a black cap standing among tall, green cacti, with a serious expression on his face.

videoBeauty and aesthetics

The grit of cacti and the drumbeat of time shape a sculptor’s life philosophy

11 minutes

Painting of a person holding a conductor’s baton standing on rocks with arms raised, facing away towards a sunrise or sunset over distant mountains in a misty, pastel-coloured landscape.

videoMusic

‘Dun dun dun duuun!’ Why Beethoven’s Fifth sticks in the head and stirs the heart

5 minutes

People walking on stairs inside a modern industrial building, with someone standing below checking their phone; entrance to Lisson Gallery visible in the background.

essayFilm and visual culture

The truth of photographs

It’s often said that a successful picture ‘captures the essence’ of a subject. But a great photograph does so much more

Daniel Star

Three painted figures with large black hair, blue clothing, and red cheeks. Their faces are unpainted, drawn with kinetic linework over beige paper. Behind them are sparse white clouds and a blue sky.

videoArt

Inside the unique creative space where ‘outsider’ artists find their form

14 minutes

A sepia sketch of a pensive person with the words “happy” and “for ever” overlaid in red and blue text.

videoStories and literature

What makes John Keats’s ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ so enduringly powerful?

10 minutes

A group of children and adults in early 20th-century attire are gathered around a large statue in an outdoor setting with trees visible in the background.

essayPolitics and government

Models of antiquity

Radicals in the Age of Revolution saw the classical world as a common inheritance that could aid their fight for liberty

Francesca Langer