Abstract: This paper asks whether beauty can non-oppressively ground romantic love. It is set to be an early chapter in my DPhil thesis, which explores, more broadly, the relationship between romantic love and beauty, from the feminist perspective.
I aim to motivate the claim that there is a puzzle for feminists who are critical of beauty (or, more precisely, a certain set of beauty norms and practices), yet who want to maintain that the appreciation of beauty plays a valuable role in grounding romantic love for someone in particular. The puzzle can be framed as a triad of claims which are independently plausible but mutually incompatible:
1. The feminist critique of beauty should be taken seriously
2. Taking the feminist critique of beauty seriously means aiming to love the beloved independently of her beauty (i.e. loving the beloved not because she is beautiful)
3. Loving the beloved independently of her beauty is not feasible nor desirable
First, I give arguments for the prima facie plausibility of 1-3, clarifying the shape of the puzzle. Second, I present three candidate solutions to the puzzle. Each of these solutions amounts to the denial of 2. The solutions are: radically expand the category of ‘beautiful’; endorse an alternative set of ‘feminist’ beauty norms and practices; reconceive beauty as merely a matter of personal taste. In arguing that none of these solutions is adequate, I hope to show that the puzzle from loving beauty is more than prima facie puzzling and therefore calls for more philosophical attention.
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See the DPhil Seminar website for details.
DPhil Seminar Convenor: Óscar Monroy Perez
