Platonic Surgery
Surgeons as artists
Cosmetic surgery continues to rise. Public figures face the most scrutiny, with before and after photos being analyzed with high-pixel, maximum contrast in the most unflattering depictions possible, often as a subject for mockery. A few times, to show what a great job has been done. Others, to point out how the subject in question is a liar for claiming they’ve had no work done. But in this context, what is becoming increasingly apparent is that the taboo surrounding cosmetic procedures has lost its power. With a 102 percent increase in procedures since 2021 for both men and women (though a case-by-case country evaluation should be made), it’s becoming less of an outlier and a part of regular life. The question is no longer about whether a procedure was done, but how.
I make figurative oil paintings. I made fruit recently, and found that the elements others thought strange - cuts, blemishes, drops - are what gave my paintings life, what made them distinct from a simple illustration. If my fruit were OGM-painted, there would be nothing interesting about it. Likewise, if I made a hyperrealist photographic fruit, it would be equal to a photo. In other words, it would lose its most sacred quality: Imperfection.
Perfection is machine-like. It is not awe-inspiring. Imperfection, on the other hand, creates uniqueness, which is a necessary trait of beauty. It’s a form of imperfection that, unknowingly, can create the image of beauty in our minds.
Another technical lesson I learned through painting faces, in particular, is just how much a fracture of a difference can radically change an expression or structure of a face. One tiny stroke on a nose can change that nose entirely. Adding cheekbones can make the lower part of the face suddenly look disproportionate. Creating bigger lips, even just a single extra line, can create a fish-like look. The harmony of a face is determined by extremely minor, almost imperceptible differences that, however, change the whole entirely. Surgeons are mostly ignorant of this reality because they’re not trained as artists; they’re trained as mechanics. A study reveals that most cosmetic surgeons receive only one anatomy session during the first year of medical school. The same study found that the best surgeons, however, are first and foremost, the best anatomists. In contrast, anatomy is a mandatory, in-depth subject for most students of figurative art.
In our contemporary society, we are exposed to an unprecedented degree of high-quality photography and film. We can easily fall prey to excessive self-consciousness, studying every part of ourselves, comparing ourselves to predetermined definitions of beauty. Industrialization first introduced the idea that perfection, in the sense of strict symmetry and equal parts of a whole without an outlier, equates to beauty. Technology has further exacerbated this trend by creating artificial perfection in a virtual reality, even more focused on eliminating flaws. Yet, we are not satisfied with these depictions - and there is a reason for it. God’s design may sometimes appear chaotic; one can just visit the wilderness to understand how. But the intricate details beneath it are orderly.
Beauty is one of life’s greatest privileges; a virtue that requires no explanation, one which reason fails to justify. Plato wrote,
Beauty is a natural superiority.
But it relies on the feeling it produces, like awe or wonder. No one would be expected to explain why the Northern Lights were wondrous or why the mundane isn’t. It’s an intuitive sense of impression. A replication of the Northern Lights, however perfectly executed, would lose that impressive ability and instead impress a sense of uncanniness. If you try to force or copy pre-existing beauty excessively, it produces the opposite effect. Too much order creates overly rigid depictions.
A carefully curated park is not as beautiful as a wild forest. But there is also an argument to be made that a wild forest requires some manmade interventions to retain its equilibrium. And here is where cosmetic surgery can have some value, if performed correctly.
For Plato, beauty is a means to ascend to a higher revelation of virtue. He argued that it,
Lifts us beyond this world … The contemplation of beauty causes the soul to grow wings.
Creating beauty in our physical selves allows us to develop internal goodness. Some were born without the gift of nature’s beauty, or they may have suffered an accident or disease, and they hope for that to be corrected. Surgery can be an equalizer, a way to make life fairer and to develop that goodness inherent in beauty. Despite the stigma attached to cosmetic surgery, some individuals achieve remarkable results. Lives can be changed. Self-esteem can be rebuilt. So, how can cosmetic surgery be performed with a positive outcome, restoring the Platonic conception of beauty as a reflection of our souls?