Aesthetics and Glamour

Glamour, unlike beauty, is a neglected quality, yet it is equally fascinating. As Carol Gould shows in this new book, if we explore it philosophically it opens up new ways of thinking about style, expressions of self and the extent that being glamorous informs our ethical judgments.

Differentiating between true and false glamour, Gould defines false glamour as that quality produced with conscious intention, deliberate construction of a look to conform with a pre-conceived idea of how they desire to appear, as argued by Socrates and Aristotle who have wrestled with the idea of what it is to act intentionally. True glamour, on the other hand, comes in part from the unconscious, from the non-conscious self, it emanates from an internal way of being. Extending beyond the aesthetic properties of personhood, she explores in our ascription of glamour to nonhuman entities, such as a fragrance, cities and dress and examines how it is understood outside the West and used in social media.

Peeling back the many layers comprising true glamour, this book allows us to glean insight into the aesthetics of human experience, exposing the range of the human aesthetic and revealing it to be much more expansive than we ever thought.

Carol S. Gould is a Professor of Philosophy at Florida Atlantic University, USA.