In the article “The Beautiful and the Ugly are One Thing, the Sublime Another; A Reflection on Culture,” Diamond begins to describe the fine line between the definitions of “beauty,” “ugly,” and the “sublime.” He states that “what is beautiful today may be an embarrassment tomorrow,” so does that give beauty a true meaning, much like the inconspicuous meaning of art?
Diamond then links the meaning of the “sublime” to culture, giving examples such as language and food, but how does one’s culture help them to reach a state of “sublime-ness?” It can be inferred that from living in one culture for an extended period of time, the small things that seem to amaze people from outside that culture seem mundane and ordinary to the people living in it, but do those differences between cultures define art, or do they simply add a new dimension to the already multivalent meaning? Is being amazed by these differences define the achievement of the “sublime?”
I think our minds give beauty it’s meaning. The quote, “what is beautiful today may be an embarrassment tomorrow,” is right in the sense that people’s minds change. What may be “amazing” one day may be “horrible” the next day. In a way, beauty doesn’t have a “solid” meaning. It really varies from person to person and attempting to give it a written definition will prove to be difficult. As the title Mena gave states, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” An apt example would be music. Some people enjoy rock music and think it’s “beautiful” and other people aren’t as fond of it. I think beauty can’t really be defined because of how it’s image differs among different people.
I think sublime can be defined since it’s a matter of what exactly is sublime that makes a difference. According to dictionary.com sublime is something “impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power.” Now what exactly impresses people? Again it varies from person to person. As the discussions today tell us, something that is a normal part of our lives may seem “ordinary” and “unimportant,” since it’s always there. We as people take some things for granted and never realize the value. For example, a computer is a basic “necessity” for us and we presume it’s just “there” and that it’s like that for everyone. On the other hand, that is a luxury in some countries and when those people see computers they are amazed. Yes, “being amazed by these differences” does define “sublime.”