Notes

Physical Self
-how does your body play a role on defining who you are
-perception of our body think of ourselves

~Beauty is the word used in day to day conversation
-if something is nice, if someone had a good character, if something is order or good
-instead of perfect people often times said beauty

-people back then was emphasized as being or the character of a person

According to Philosophers
+St. Augustine- asked whether things were beautiful because it gave delight or whether it gave delight because it was beautiful
Ex. Do we think that person A is beautiful because he or she did something good/
Is person A is good because he or she is beautiful
-things gave delight because it was beautiful; hence
-things are not inherently delightful rather things are inherently beautiful
-because of beauty things become desirable
-we don't say that something is beautiful because it was desirable for us but rather it was the other way around
-we perceive the beauty of the being or the character before we say that it is delightful

+Plato- connected beauty to love and desire
-if something is beautiful then it is worthy of love and also desirable
-hence we don't do things that is not desirable or not lovable because it is not beautiful

+Aristotle- the chief forms of beauty are order, symmetry and definiteness
-people pay attention to order, perfection, or organization

~Beauty can be a characteristic of an object, a person, or a situation

+David Hume- Beauty has no quality in things themselves but rather it merely exists in the mind which contemplates them
-beauty is something that is perceive by the perceiver
In Laymans Term: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"
-where what is beautiful for me may not be beautiful for you
- we have different definition of what is beautiful and what is not

+Francis Hutcheson- perception of beauty does depend on the external sense of sight
-sometime beauty can be in what we feel, or what we sense
ex: when we hear music and its beautiful
-hence we should not limit the philosophical meaning of beauty to the physical characteristic of an object

~beauty can be used to describe situations, sensations and feelings
ex: you feel good when you are helping, you think that helping is beautiful

~Beauty as a virtue can be the characteristic or perception
~If beauty can be subjective concept, hence every culture had its own definition of what is beautiful and what is not
ex: if you appear to be beautiful in one culture, then you may not be as beautiful in another culture
-this can be dangerous because what if the beauty in one culture is not achievable or doable
ex: you define it is beautiful if something or someone is physically attractive
but you have different ways on defining what physical attractive is

+What did Psychology discover about beauty
~A person who is perceived as attractive makes more money than a person of below-average
looks
-A correlational research then
-It's not their looks that causes their high income/ not a direct relationship
-If things are related to each other, there MAY BE OTHER FACTORS THAT WE SHOULD
CONSIDER
-Do not generalize this finding to all situations
-do not think of people who are below average looks are less likely to make money, other factors
to consider

-this result may not be true in your culture or environment, it may differ according to
situations
-But in general, psychological research:
people who are perceive as attractive make more money compare to those of average looks
~other factors:
given more opportunities,
more likely to be talented as well

"We should just not look at physical attractiveness of a person,
but we should assess the other skills of the individual"
~In politics, voters who are no actively engaged in social and political issues choose candidates based on "looks"
-this happens a lot to voters who don't know idea about politics
-we are drawn to people who had good charisma, communicate well and well groom

"Try to present yourself in a manner that will help you advance in your career."
such as: being presentable by wearing the right clothes, and be more confident on the way you deliver yourself
-if we are perceive as attractive, opportunities come along the way
-it may not happen all the time, but you know that being prepared, physically attractive, confident and show skills it will pays.


*
+Halo effect
-this happen when we try to evaluate an individual
-if someone is physically attractive we always jump to conclusions
such as he/she is also smart, skilled, capable, and be a perfect candidate

~people are not conscious about the halo effect
ex: if someone wants to persuade us, they make themselves look presentable so that we will jump to conclusion that this person also knows what he/she is talking about

+Horn effect/ Devil effect
-giving low rating to a person just because of one negative attribute
ex: person a is not a good English speaker, there is a tendency for you to think that he is not intelligent/ capable/ not confident

~be conscious on the way you evaluate people, try to be more objective on the way we rate people so we won't be affective by halo and devil effect


*
+Culture and Perception of Beauty
~Cultural traditions can either be a positive or negative influence on body image and on self-esteem
-in various cultures, have different ideal, different images, certain characteristics that defines beauty
-culture affect what we label as desirable, good, and beautiful

~our cultural tradition may influence us to have a negative take/ an accurate picture on what a person is
ex: in chinese, having a small feet is one of the standards of the beauty
-beauty can also be dangerous to your health

Filipinos emphasize having a fair skin
Westerners had more desirable having a tan skin
-What we label as beautiful is not congruent to our culture
-People experience body dissatisfaction due to cultural standard which is absurd and not doable
we think that when we achieve such goals we are going to be happy
but when we achieve such goals we became more unhappy
ex: people who are dieting had a perfectionist tendencies,
even though they are already unhealthy in their diet they keep on dieting until they achieve their desirable perfect weight they won't stop


*
+Mental Health and Mental Illness in Understanding the Self
~Body Dysmorphic Disorder
*Imagined Ugliness
-Someone with imagined effects
-Someone who actually looks reasonably normal but he/she thinks that he/she is ugly
-hence he/she will do something about his/her imagination ugliness that is a subjective
-It may come from experiences of being bullied, or being exposed to social media
ex: the person is disturbed by the pimples and thinks that he/she is ugly, that is why he/she uses nail cutter to remove the pimples
-they may resort to any method just to eliminate the perceive ugliness
but sometimes they end up looking worse because of the "misguided strategies"

~if you know someone with a body dysmorphic disorder or who has trouble with their physical attractiveness and it is serious, try suggesting going to an expert


~Eating disorders
*Bulimia nervosa
-out of control eating or binges
then induced self vomiting or use of laxatives or other methods to purge (get rid) of the food

-can have a normal or overweight

*Anorexia nervosa -same as bulimia nervosa
-underweight where it drums dangerously in unhealthy manner
-may try his/her best to be underweight for they think that is 'perfect'

*Binge-eating disorder