start

1806, in reference to the Cyrenaic school of philosophy that deals with the ethics of pleasure; with -ist + Greek hēdone "pleasure, delight, enjoyment; a pleasure, a delight," which is related to hēdys "sweet" and cognate with Latin suavis, from PIE *swad-ona, suffixed form of root *swad- "sweet, pleasant" (see sweet (adj.)). Meaning "one who regards pleasure as the chief goal of life" is from 1854. A hedonist is properly the follower of any ethical system in which some sort of pleasure ranks as the highest good. The Epicurean identifies this pleasure with the practice of virtue.

natural beauty | synthetic beauty

The main difference between natural beauty and synthetic beauty is that natural beauty is innate and comes from within, while synthetic beauty is a result of external intervention. Natural beauty is often considered more authentic and genuine, while synthetic beauty can be perceived as artificial or superficial. Ultimately, the definition of beauty is subjective and can vary depending on personal preference and cultural context.

fetish (n.)
"material object regarded with awe as having mysterious powers or being the representative of a deity that may be worshipped through it," 1610s, fatisso, from Portuguese feitiço "charm, sorcery, allurement," noun use of an adjective meaning "artificial."

The Portuguese adjective is from Latin facticius "made by art, artificial," from facere "to make, do, produce" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put;" compare French factice "artificial," restored from Old French faitise, from Latin facticius). Via the French word, Middle English had fetis, fetice (adj.) "cleverly made, neat, elegant" (of things), "handsome, pretty, neat" (of persons). But in the Middle Ages the Romanic derivatives of the word took on magical senses; compare Portuguese feiticeria "sorcery, witchcraft," feiticeiro "sorcerer, wizard." Latin facticius in Spanish has become hechizo "artificial, imitated," also "bewitchment, fascination."

The specific Portuguese use of the word that brought it to English probably began among Portuguese sailors and traders who used the word as a name for charms and talismans worshipped by the inhabitants of the Guinea coast of Africa. It was picked up and popularized in anthropology by Charles de Brosses' "Du culte des dieux fétiches" (1760), which influenced the word's spelling in English (French fétiche also is borrowed 18c. from the Portuguese word).

the principle that Beauty has never been absolute and immutable

THE ABSTRACT CONCEPT

And what should we think about concepts, sometimes so
difficult to form? Tell me, for instance, what Beauty is.
Thumbelina answers: a beautiful woman, a beautiful dance, a beautiful sunset. . . . Stop! Why, when I ask you about a concept, do you instead give me a million examples? When will you stop playing with your dolls and horses?
Every abstract idea brings with it an immense economy of thought. Beauty holds in its hands a thousand and one beautiful women, just as the geometer’s circle includes an infinite myriad of round things. We could never have written or read neither pages nor books if we had to cite each of these beauties or circularities, since their number is enormous, without limit. Moreover, I would never be able to demarcate even a single page without appealing to an idea that would halt this indefinite enumeration. Abstraction functions like a cork stopper.

Thumbelina, Michel serres and Daniel W. p42

the act of applying nail polish

the celebration of the absurde

tribute to the uselessness

the ambivalenz of an angel

constitution of hotness

the fetish form of capital [3]

the spiritual part you have never understood

[0]
Less Than Nothing
Slavoj Žižek's Less Than Nothing

[1]
But man delights to ruin man.
Seneca, Complete Works

[2]
The man of the world almost always wears masks.
Rousseau, Collected Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[3]
For riches are one thing, money another.
Augustine, The City of God

[4]
The pleasure we take in beautiful, expensive things betokens vanity as well as excess.
Abelard, The Letters to Heloise and other Writings

[3]
fetish form of capital
Marx, Collected Works

[4]
You have this mysterious powers and you are the representative of a deity that may be worshipped through it.
definition of a fetish

[5]
Thus, in purity may be found greatness; in greatness, beauty; in beauty, simplicity; and in simplicity, splendour.
Williams, Daniele Barbaros Vitruvius of 1567

[6]
Neither is luxury the fault of lovely and charming objects, but of the heart that inordinately loves sensual pleasures, to the neglect of temperance, which attaches us to objects more lovely in their spirituality, and more delectable by their incorruptibility
Augustine, The City of God

[7]
I have only made up my mind after many years of meditation; here I rest, my conscience is at peace, my heart is satisfied
Rousseau, Collected Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[8]
You are the object of humanism, in your bloody materiality as well as in philosophi cal thought where you are only a fleshy origin and shadow.
Braidotti Hlavajova, Posthuman Glossary

[9]
You are a living curiosity, made up of the strangest and most incongruous elements.
Lewis, Washington A History of Our National City

[10]
The residence of truth in the dark centre of things is linked, paradoxically, to this sovereign power of the empirical gaze that turns their darkness into light.
Foucault, The Birth of the Clinic

[11]
You leave an indelible mark on our cultural landscape for endless generations.
Mumford, The Culture of Cities

[12]
Things have Meaning, but they make Sense.
Zizek, Less Than Nothing

[13]
To become real in the baroque court, it was necessary that an object or a function should bear the marks of exquisite uselessness
Mumford, The Culture of Cities

[14]
Pleasure was a duty, idleness a service, and honest work the lowest form of degradation.
Mumford, The Culture of Cities

[15]
In a polished nation full of wit and strength, laziness and gravity are held in honor.
Diderot Alembert, Political Articles in the Dictionary

[16]
The uselessness of the city contributes both to its charm and to its poignancy, which is part of its charm.
Carter, Shaking A Leg

[17]
Once that happens, the possibilities become endless
Koolhaas, Elements of Architecture

[18]
Perfect is that in which nothing is missing, and to which nothing can be added
Williams, Daniele Barbaros Vitruvius of 1567

[19]
For the perfection of other beings also is agreeable, such as understanding, courage, and especially beauty in another human being, or in an animal or even in a lifeless creation, a painting or a work of craftsmanship, a, well. For the image of such perfection in others, impressed upon us, causes some of this perfection to be implanted and aroused within
Readings in Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics, Englewood Cliffs,

[[20]
No ill temper, no harshness.
Hugo, Les Miserables

[21]
Simplicity is achieved if every figure shows its emotions clearly and unequivocally and if the mood of the scene is convincingly conveyed.
Barasch, Theories of Art

[22]
But our dull wit cannot come unto such perfectness of all art, truth and wisdom
Holt, Literary Sources of Art History

[23]
People might lose their sense of being unique.
Russell Norvig, Artificial Intelligence

[24]
Yes, and there is pleasure.
Seneca, Complete Works

[25]
pleasure as the chief goal of life.
definition of a hedonist

[26]
Responsibility must be taken for these actions.
Crowley, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students

[27]
To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.
Charlie Chaplin, Great dictator

[28]
We cannot both experience and think that we experience.
Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968