Fitness, not visual pleasantness, is the root of beauty

Evidence

But consider Craters of the Moon National Monument, near Arco, Idaho. Here is something that requires adept interpretation to be realized in its beauty and wonder. I say “beauty,” for to me it is beautiful, since I follow John Ruskin in the thought that fitness is the first element of beauty. But if my neighbor thinks this hurly-burly of volcanic forms is ugly, I shall not argue. We merely define beauty for ourselves differently. — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 517

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Ruskin’s ‘fitness as first element of beauty,’ a definitional keystone for the rest of the chapter.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Museums should open with one beautiful unlabeled object — Freeman Tilden, Interpreting Our Heritage, 524; Contemporary beauty norms reproduce a Platonic dualism of body as lack to be mastered — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 306; Fitness obsession is a form of self-doubling, not social connection — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror…, 577

Broader Connections

• Contemporary beauty norms reproduce a Platonic dualism of body as lack to be mastered #complicates (0.75) — Val Plumwood, Feminism and the Mastery of Nature, 306
• Fitness obsession is a form of self-doubling, not social connection #responds-to (0.72) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 577