Imagine decorating a wall of your home with a 1974 Lamborghini Countach. When we think about decorating the walls in our homes, we might begin with the color of the paint. Then, we may think of some family photos. Some of us may add artwork. But Richard Moriarty, owner of Newport Beach Vineyards & Winery, suspended a black Countach as if it’s parked on his wall. Why would someone do this? Regardless of whatever else we might say, Moriarty decided to transform this car into decoration after the engine died. The car could no longer perform its function as a car—to transport people from one place to another—so Moriarty changed the function of his 1974 Lamborghini.

The idea of an object’s function is important when we need it to perform a particular task. Some philosophers also applied the idea of function to sentient beings. For instance, the key to much of Aristotle’s philosophy centers on the notion of functionality, which he believed was the intrinsic purpose of that thing. Moreover, a change in an object’s function indicates a change in the object’s nature. The above mentioned car is no longer really a car but a decoration. Even beauty directly relates to an object’s or person’s function as we’ll see from Aristotle’s words. In Rhetoric, Aristotle writes: “The excellence of beauty is health; that is, a condition which allows us, while keeping free from disease, to have the use of our bodies. … Beauty varies with the time of life.” Beauty may not directly help us perform our function, but it indicates our ability to achieve our end in life. For people, Aristotle believed our end is eudaemonia, a Greek word that translates as happiness but more accurately suggests the notion of flourishing.

Aristotle connects a person’s beauty with this function. This notion of function has changed since Aristotle’s time in a key way. For example, the existentialists argued that human beings do not have a predetermined purpose; that we are supposed to decide that for ourselves. Even with that significant switch in thinking, we could still maintain that the purpose of our choosing is advanced in part through beauty. Yet some people might assert that beauty is mere window dressing—that it’s nice but unnecessary. But philosophers have long asserted that beauty is a human value. More recently, scientists have also begun to confirm that beauty is valuable.

Additionally, this raises interesting questions about what role beauty plays in our lives at different stages. If we don’t have one main purpose, then it would seem to follow that beauty would play a different role at different stages. Just as an object can change its function, we can change our relationship to and preferences for beauty at different stages of life. It may not be exactly the same from young to old age. Aristotle offers this explanation: “In a young man beauty is the possession of a body fit to endure the exertion of running and of contests of strength; which means that he is pleasant to look at; and therefore all-round athletes are the most beautiful, being naturally adapted both for contests of strength and for speed also.” Notice how Aristotle connects someone’s beauty directly with their ability to act, and specifically act at the highest level of physical ability. Because our actions change over time, our beauty also changes over time. 

So, Aristotle continues: “For a man in his prime, beauty is fitness for the exertion of warfare, together with a pleasant but at the same time formidable appearance.” He describes beauty as fitness. Some modern philosophers also use the term fittingness: how parts fit together is important for their beauty. Here, Aristotle claims that the man in his prime is both pleasant and formidable. He seems to suggest a balance between these two contraries. Just being pleasant might mean he lacks a certain strength and intimidation for war. But only being formidable would mean that he might be off-putting in other social contexts. Aristotle seems to imply that maybe beauty can be adapted to different circumstances.

Aristotle writes: “For an old man, it is to be strong enough for exertion as is necessary, and to be free from pain through escaping the ravages of old age.” Aristotle related the absence of pain to an older person’s beauty, along with their ability to perform necessary functions to stay alive. This idea connects with some later philosophers. For example, Edmund Burke started his discussion about beauty with the feelings of pleasure, pain, and indifference. When considering Aristotle’s notion of beauty in old age, we might think about basic autonomy and being overall healthy. Someone who still radiates a lot of life and energy. And it is a worthy goal to strive toward.

What do we make of Aristotle’s ideas here? I suspect most people don’t agree with many of the details as presented, nor do I. It might come across as ageist and sexist, since he makes strict statements about these different times of our lives, and he focuses on men, suggesting they are more important. However, when we think about the social construction of beauty in our own time, we mostly think about how women are treated and judged. But Aristotle provides a standard by which to judge men according to their beauty, which is not frequently discussed. Despite the pitfalls with Aristotle’s ideas, it is worth considering how our relationship with beauty changes over time. And it is also worth considering when and how we might subvert those changes. We may develop certain physical limitations (such as slower movement), but that fact doesn’t preclude us from other ways that make us feel good, such as how we dress or other activities like art or writing. While we don’t endorse the rigidity that Aristotle upheld, we should revisit our own ideas about beauty at different times of our lives.

Sometimes we may look at our wrinkled skin and settle for our preconceived notions of what is possible for us to do. Just think about Carol Wright, who began running at age 69 and has since completed 18 marathons, including the Boston Marathon seven times. We should pay attention to how our body and beauty changes over time. We should also heed words of caution from doctors and others. But we should also know our bodies. We should not impose age limitations for their own sake, if we don’t really need to adhere to them. We should strive for new experiences and expressions of beauty in our lives and not succumb to societal, familial, or other kinds of pressure.