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The Beautiful in Bali

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Artistic Visions and the Promise of Beauty

Abstract

The Indonesian island of Bali has often been described as a paradise. In terms of natural beauty, this seems appropriate. Volcanic cones, deep valleys full of verdant vegetation, colorful and exotic flowers and butterflies, yellow sand beaches, turquoise oceans–all establish the island’s physical beauty. And human contributions often add to the splendor. For instance, the sides of mountains can be softened and elaborated by intricately terraced rice fields. But these environmental features are common to many tropical locations in southeast Asia. To understand why Bali is so often singled out for praise, it is necessary to appreciate how the island’s distinctive religion and cosmology pervade life in all its aspects. And given that the Balinese gods are connoisseurs of beauty, this explains why the Balinese people are committed to the creation and presentation of beauty as a religious duty. This obligation aesthetically affects their everyday lives, architecture, and arts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Some scholars recognize up to five levels in the Balinese language. The level of language used depends on the caste of the person addressed (or the formality of the occasion). About 10 % of Balinese belong to the three high castes. The Indonesian language, by contrast, has only one level.

  2. 2.

    A similar distinction occurs also in the Indonesian language, with cantik referring to a woman and indah to a beautiful view, for example.

  3. 3.

    I thank Mark Hobart, Doug Myers, Rucina Ballinger, and Uli Kozok for their advice on these terminological matters.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Stephen Davies

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  1. Stephen Davies
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Correspondence to Stephen Davies .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    Kathleen M. Higgins

  2. Artist & Independent Scholar, New Delhi, India

    Shakti Maira

  3. Department of Philosophy, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Sonia Sikka

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Davies, S. (2017). The Beautiful in Bali. In: Higgins, K., Maira, S., Sikka, S. (eds) Artistic Visions and the Promise of Beauty. Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43893-1_17

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