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Moral Beauty is above physical beauty-illustrate & explain.
Acknowledgement
In drawing up this paper, I graciously thank those without whom the completion of this project would have been impossible. First and foremost, I would like to extend my thanks to “Barrister A.M. Masum”, my faculty, for his extending significant assistance; my thanks also go to my fellow classmates and others who have all been patient enough to bear with my inquiries as well as the survey questionnaires and also for lending and suggesting new ideas and improvements wherever possible. I would also like to thank my parents whose unstinting and steady support helped me to complete this report
Introduction:
“Beauty is skin deep” is a famous proverb. It means that being beautiful only counts on your physical appearance, which clearly isn’t true. Beauty not only is what’s on the outside but is what is on the inside as well. Only thing that should matter about a person is their personality. Not what they look like. Just because they are “beautiful” on the outside doesn’t mean they are on the inside; the way they act. A good analogy would be: imagine buying an apple, the plumpest, shiniest, ripest looking one in the basket, then biting into it only to find it rotten and wormy.
The socio-cultural dogma that promotes judging people by their looks is still prevalent in today’s society. No matter how advanced a civilization professes to be, discrimination remains; either in plain sight or hidden from prying eyes. It has to be considered that the first impression is that what is perceived by sight; the predicament that lies thereafter is that of a conclusion based exclusively. Today’s multicultural business environment negates much of the favoritism of the past but in the end the resolution lies in the hands of the individual.
This report underlines the concept that interior beauty is what defines a person and the exterior is just a façade.
Research Questions:
In my research, I have investigated the answers of the following questions:
· What determines human beauty?
· What influence our perception
· What people priorities more? Inner beauty or outer looks?
· How ethical theories are related with the survey results that means people’s opinion.
Hypothesis:
My hypothesis is beauty is skin deep. That means Physical beauty is superficial. A pleasing exterior is no guide to a person’s interior or character. So our inner beauty is more important than our physical beauty.
Define beauty:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is a famous aphorism by Plato that is often misquoted from his true words. Some people agree with this definition of beauty. People also concur that beauty is the ability to appeal to the senses. Obviously, there is more than one definition of what beauty is in this world. With these numerous amounts of meanings there is bound to be contradictions; beauty is not merely in the eye but also in the imagination of the beholder. In simpler words, beauty is imagination. Of course there is going to be some disagreement that beauty is imagination. Someone may think that beauty is defined as something else. What beauty is to one person will be different than another person’s view on what beauty is to them.. What exactly makes people have different views on this topic? The answer is the diverse levels of imagination.
the levels of people’s imaginations are very diverse. A question containing why this occurs is similar to asking why we all don’t like the same exact things, or why we all don’t have the same personality.
Factors that influence our perception of human beauty:
Perception of beauty can be affected by ingrained evolutionary factors, Physical attributes, Attire and etiquette, Knowledge and attitude towards life. Research indicates that formulas were used as early as Plato’s time to define universal attractiveness. While more modern research supports the theory that certain features may represent genetic strength, making those who possess them appear more attractive, other factors can alter our perception of beauty. These include the media and the images a culture puts forth to represent physical perfection. Personality traits, such as kindness, sense of humor, and intelligence, may also impact the way we gauge attractiveness while interacting with others.
Some of the factors have been discussed here:
Cultural influence:
Cultural influence can be divided into two categories they are
Ø Mass Media & Beauty: The perception of beauty is being corrupted due to mass media. Superficial women are being portrayed as beautiful and it affects children as early as their childhood.
Ø Ethnicity, Stereotype & Beauty: Skin color seems to be an important focus when perceiving physical attractiveness, a research intended to seek how skin color consciously or unconsciously influences perception of physical attractiveness.
Non physical influence:
Can be divided into two categories they are
Ø Personality & Beauty: a model that theorizes non-physical qualities such as an individual’s personality, body language, intelligence, etc., can influence perception of beauty. The compiled resources below focus particularly on personality, providing substantive data validating its role in beauty perception.
Ø Human Nature & Beauty: Values and behaviors are the characteristics of both normative conformity and informational conformity. Each of each has a contribution for changing behavior. Decision is a coping mechanism that gives people alternative options to capable them discern their standard values
Psychological and social influence:
Ø Beauty Bias & Stereotype: Research shows that humans often attach ‘attribute stereotypes’ to people that they perceive physically attractive or unattractive. They interweave qualities such as goodness, negativity, intelligence, status, success and happiness into the “human fabric” of another individual, transforming their beauty, or lack thereof it, into something far more substantive and potentially detrimental.
Methodology
Secondary Research:
For my secondary research, I used “business ethics” books as well as the web. I used various books and journals etc. On the internet, I used search engines like Google, yahoo etc, encyclopedias like Wikipedia and various websites
Primary Research:
For the primary research I conducted a Questionnaire survey. Questionnaires are groups of questions designed in such a way that they can be distributed to a large number of people in order to gather information from them for research purpose. For the primary research, I distributed questionnaires among 50 educated people of age 18 years and above. I chose this sample in order to know what people think about the “beauty is skin deep”
The data obtained from questionnaires have been analyzed using graphs and charts. Data analysis with graphs and charts are given at the data analysis section.
Data analysis:
The 50 respondents responded to 10 question of the questionnaire. The graphical analysis of some questions along with the findings is given below:
1.What factors in your opinion define beauty?
From figure 1, it can be seen that 22 people said that inner personality define beauty whereas 20 people chose the option both and only 8 people chose the option physical attractiveness
2.Is the inner beauty of a person more important than what that person looks like?
From figure 2, it can be seen that 32 respondents out of 50 respondents said that inner beauty is more important than the person’s looks. On the other hand 10 respondents thought that too some extent inner beauty is important.only 8 respondents thought person’s looks is more important than the inner beauty
3. Do you concentrate as much on your inner beauty as your outer beauty?
From figure 3, it can be seen that 28 respondents of the total 50 respondents perceived that they do not concentrate much on their inner beauty, whereas 13 respondents perceived that they moderately concentrate on their inner beauty. In addition 9 respondents said that they give high concentration on their inner beauty.
4.Do you judge people by their looks?
In figure 4, it can be seen that 33 respondents thought that they somewhat judge people by their look. On the other hand 13 respondents thoght they don’t judge people by their looks. Moreover only 4 people thought they judge people only the base of their looks.
5. What do you prefer when choosing for the life partner?
From figure 5, it can be seen that 30 people went for inner beauty whereas 10 people went for the outer look when choosing for the life partner. and 10 people wanted both the thing at the same time.
6. Do you think good looks have influence on people to get success in their job life?
In figure 6, it can be seen that 30 people out of 50 altogether thought that good looks have a low influence on people to get success in their jib life.on the other hand only 4 respondent thought that looks have influence on the success of job life. In addition 16 respondents thought it is moderate.
7. Do you think employers are biased towards good looking people in case of recruiting?
Figure 7 shows that 28 respondents perceived that employers are not biased towards good looking people in case of recruiting though 12 people perceived that employer are biased towards looks. And 10 people perceived that employers are somewhat biased towards looks while hiring.
8. Do you think people face discrimination at their jobs because of their looks?
From figure 8, it can be seen that 33 respondent said that they don’t face any discrimination because of their looks. And 11 respondents agreed that they somewhat face discrimination. But only 6 respondents claimed that they face discrimination because of their looks.
9. How peoples look reflect how appreciable they are to society?
From figure 9, it can be seen that 27 respondent agreed to the fact that good looking people are more appreciated in the society. On the other hand only 8 people denied the fact that looks has nothing to do with society. In addition 5 respondents also thought that looks is somewhat appreciable to the society.
10. Do you believe in the saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder?
In figure 10, it can be seen that 34 respondent believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder whereas 5 respondent disagreed with the face. Only 1 respondent was unsure about the answer.
After analyzing the questionnaires through graphs, it has been found that people give more priority to the inner beauty rather than the outer looks.
Findings and Relevant theory:
Ethical relativism:
Ethical relativism claims that morality is context dependent and subjective. There are no universal right and wrongs that can be rationally determined. It also describes the fact that in different cultures one of the variants is the sense of morality: the mores, customs and ethical principles may all vary from one culture to another. There is a great deal of information available to confirm this as well. What is thought to be moral in one country may be thought to be immoral and even made illegal in another country.
This theory can be applied on the people perception towards beauty. A person can find someone beautiful on the other hand some other person can find the same person unattractive. In Asia people like fair complexion on the other hand in western countries they prefer tan complexion. So finding someone beautiful outside is a matter of context and subjective. If anyone prefers outer look than the inner looks that cannot be universal right or wrong and also can’t be rationally determined.
Egoism:
Following the theory of egoism an action is morally right if the decision-maker freely decides in order to pursue either their (short-term) desires to their (long-term) interests. Egoism does not, however, require moral agents to harm the interests and well-being of others when making moral deliberation; e.g. what is in an agent’s self-interest may be incidentally detrimental, beneficial, or neutral in its effect on others. Each of us is intimately familiar with our own individual wants and needs. Moreover, each of us is uniquely placed to pursue those wants and needs effectively. To pursue actively the interests of others is to be officious. We should mind our own business and allow others to mind theirs.
People consider inner beauty in case of long term relationship. Because outer looks fade with the time only inner beauty remains same. So some people prefer inner beauty rather than outer look because of their long term interest. But there are some people who like outer looks. They get attracted by the physical appearance for their short term interest. Sometimes people groom their looks to achieve a job or to get married. In the process of achieving their personal interest they don’t harm others interest intentionally. So it is not morally wrong.
John Rawls Theory of Justice:
This theory attempts to solve the problem of distributive justice (the socially just distribution of goods in a society) by utilizing a variant of the familiar device of the social contract. In the Theory of Justice, Rawls argues for a principled reconciliation of liberty and equality. Central to this effort is an account of the circumstances of justice. and a fair choice situation for parties facing such circumstances. Principles of justice are sought to guide the conduct of the parties. These parties are recognized to face moderate scarcity, and they are neither naturally altruistic nor purely egoistic. They have ends which they seek to advance, but prefer to advance them through cooperation with others on mutually acceptable terms.
There are two principles of this theory:
First principle of justice:
“Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all.”
The basic liberties of citizens are: the political liberty to vote and run for office, freedom of speech and assembly, liberty of conscience, freedom of personal property and freedom from arbitrary arrest.
The second principle of justice:
Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both:
a. to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged;
b. attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity.
For example, the family one is born into shouldn’t determine one’s life chances or opportunities. Rawls is also keying on an intuition that a person does not morally deserve their inborn talents; thus that one is not entitled to all the benefits they could possibly receive from them; hence, at least one of the criteria which could provide an alternative to equality in assessing the justice of distributions is eliminated. air equality of opportunity requires not merely that offices and positions are distributed on the basis of merit, but that all have reasonable opportunity to acquire the skills on the basis of which merit is assessed. It may be thought that this stipulation, and even the first principle of justice, may require greater equality than the difference principle, because large social and economic inequalities
The first principle is more relevant with the topic. As it claims that everybody should get an equal chance. Whether they born with good looks or not. Biasness should not influence the work. People have tendency to get biased towards people with good looks. But that is morally wrong
Postmodern ethics
Postmodern ethics is an approach that locates morality beyond the sphere of rationality in an emotional ‘moral impulse’ towards others. It encourages individual actors to question everyday practices and rules, and to listen to and follow their emotions, inner convictions and ‘gut feelings’ about what they think is right and wrong in a particular incident of decision-making.
This theory is also relevant to the topic. Postmodern ethics encourages following the emotions and inner conviction which helps to understand a person’s inner beauty. As this theory also encourage questioning everyday practices and listening ti and follow other emotion so it reduces the biasness caused from looks or racism.
Conclusion:
After addressing the research question it can be concluded that that the outward appearance of a person counts for nothing, but it is what lies beneath the skin Beauty is ephemeral. It is temporary. Beauty starts with loving ourselves. We seek perfection from imperfect beliefs and flawed thinking. True attractiveness loves who we are. There is no such thing as perfection, only appreciation. When we value the whole package of personality, intelligence, attitude, listening skills, and ability for compassion, then we will know true beauty. When we see something beautiful, it is pleasing to our eyes. But it is the beauty that touches our soul that is everlasting. We must realize that a person can be beautiful on the inside. Such a person is often referred to as a ‘lovely’ person. However, when we refer to something beautiful we are usually referring to that something outward appearance. The actual person him/herself is what really matters. I believe the underlying message of this saying is completely true.
Bibliography
Crane, A., & Matten, D.(2004). Business Ethics: A European Perspective.
USA: Oxford University Press
Hartman, L. (2004). Perspectives in Business Ethics (3rd edition)
McGraw-Hill:Irwin
Robert F. O’Neil, (1986) “Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics: A European Perspective”, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 13 Iss: 10, pp.64 – 76
Berscheid, E., Dion, K., Walster, E., & Walster, W.G. (1972). What is Beautiful is Good.Journal of Personality & Social Psychology
Sands, B. (n.d.). Mass media has a negative impact on women. Retrieved from http://www.teenink.com/opinion/pop_culture_trends/article/225891/Mass-Media-Has-a-Negative-Impact-on-Women/
Hill, M. (2002). Skin color and the perception of attractiveness among african americans: Does gender make a difference? Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 65, pp. 77-91. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3090169′
Griffin, A. M., & Langlois, J. H. (2006). Stereotype directionality and attractiveness stereotyping: Is beauty good or is ugly bad? National Institute of Health, 24(2′), 187-206
Baier, Kurt, 1990, “Egoism” in A Companion to Ethics, Peter Singer (ed.), Blackwell: Oxford
APPENDICES
Topic: Beauty is skin deep
Target Group: educated people Male ¨ Female ¨
Instruction: put the tick mark on Age range: 18 and above the best option.
1. What factors in your opinion define beauty?
a) Physical attractiveness
b) Personality
c) Both
2. Is the inner beauty of a person more important than what that person looks like?
a) Yes, for sure
b) Yes, to some extent
c) No, I don’t think so
3. Do you concentrate as much on your INNER beauty as your outer beauty?
a) Yes, very much
b) Yes, moderate
c) No, not much
4. Do you judge people by their looks?
a) Yes, completely
b) Yes, a little bit
c) No, not at all
5. What do you prefer when choosing for the life partner?
a) Inner beauty
b) Outer look
c) Both
6. Do you think good looks have influence on people to get success in their job life?
a) High
b) Moderate
c) Low
7. Do you think employers are biased towards good looking people in case of recruiting?
a)Yes, for sure
b) yes, to some extent
c) Not at all
8. Are people facing discrimination in their jobs because of the looks?
a)Yes, very much
b) Yes, moderately
c)No, not at all
9. How peoples look reflect how appreciable they are to society?
a) Yes, definitely
b) Yes, a little bit
c) No, not at all
10. 10.Do you believe in the saying, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder?
a) Yes, completely agree
b) No, not really
c) Not sure