Beauty

             Nic: "I do".
             Stuart: "So tell me then, what is the feature that these objects and ideas share with the woman you yourself described as beautiful earlier?".
             Nic: "Apart from them all being beautiful, I can't think of one".
             Stuart: "Alas, neither can I. So, since these objects share no physical features whatsoever, and yet beauty is something they have in common, do you think it is safe to say then, that beauty cannot be described as any physical quality that something may possess, since this is merely physical attraction?".
             Nic: "It seems to make sense to me".
             Stuart: "Ok then, now that we've got this far, it seems ridiculous to stop and leave our definition hanging in the air. If you"d like, we"ll continue and come to a definition with which we are both happy".
             Nic: "That sounds like a good idea".
             Stuart: "Very well then. The next logical place to look is in the components of the objects, since we have already looked at the whole bodies themselves, don't you think?".
             Nic: "Go ahead".
             Stuart: "Good, now what would you say the components of the woman (or any human) are, besides the body?".
             Nic: "I would say that the different aspects of a persons character, such as morality, knowledge etc. are the components which come together to make the person who they are".
             Stuart: "And that would be as good a definition as I could have hoped for. Now the components of our painting and concerto must slightly differ from those of our woman, since these objects do not possess the gift of consciousness. So the components of the painting must be the colours and techniques etc used to make it, and the components of our concerto must be the notes, modes, scales etc. used to compose it, correct?".
             Nic: "Yes".
             Stuart: "But to recognize the techniques used, as well as the type of paint and paper, a certain degree of expertise is required, as is the case if you were to recognize that a good song uses a certain mode or chord progression am I correct?".