Historically, the idea of beauty has been a highly debated topic, with many different views being fought over. For example, there have been theories regarding beauty being something that only certain people possess, while others believe that beauty is a result of good genes. Despite these differences, there is one thing that all cultures agree on, and that is that beauty is a fundamental part of human existence.
Aristotle
Throughout medieval history, ideas about beauty were passed around by various philosophers. In some cases, these ideas influenced the development of a system of aesthetics. In other cases, these concepts were simply an interesting entry point into the study of aesthetics.
Aristotle was one of the first philosophers to reflect upon the role of art on new bases. He asked a fundamental question: how do we gain access to the beautiful? He concluded that we must imitate or mimic something. He was the first to write about the concept of mimesis.
Aristotle’s theory of beauty is one of the most important foundational principles in normative aesthetics. He defined beauty as an object that is clearly beautiful. He also believed that an object is beautiful to a certain degree. He explained this in many ways. He wrote about the aforementioned in Metaphysics, Rhetoric, and a variety of allusions.
Aristotle’s philosophies about the beauty of nature and art are a major advance over Plato’s. He recognized that the aim of art is utility. He also believed that art should have a purpose and that it is not merely an imitation. His definition of form was particularly notable. It provided ground for later theories of beauty.
Aristotle emphasized the importance of order and size in art. He believed that tragedy could help cleanse negative emotions. He believed that drama should be established against material and not the other way around. He also believed that imitation is necessary for character formation.
Aristotle’s theory has received a lot of criticism from later philosophers. Some have claimed that his belief is unfounded. Others have claimed that the idea of an object’s beauty is the same as the idea of its good.
Plato
Platonic beauty is a central topic in Plato’s aesthetics. In his dialogues, Plato devotes a great deal of time to this subject. It is not surprising that scholars have recently been reexamining the nature of Plato’s aesthetics.
Beauty is a basic quality of the world. It draws the soul toward the Forms. It is the guiding force behind the mind’s journey to knowledge and the good. It is the essence of real being. It bears the marks of the Forms. Among other things, it is the source of inspiration. It is the cause of all occurrences of beauty.
Plato is cautious about the desire arousing from physical attractiveness. He believes that real love can recognize immortal qualities in things. But he does not condemn the imitation of beautiful objects. The unjustification of imitation brings vice and misery to the soul. Fortunately, the soul’s justice is derived from a balance of reason and spirit.
Aesthetics has received fresh attention in recent decades. Scholarship has provided unprecedented resources to study Greek religion. A few centuries ago, aesthetics was not recognized as a field of study. Now, many people are able to appreciate the aesthetics of ancient Greece. Moreover, there is a growing appreciation for the influence of Platonic aesthetics on contemporary theories of art.
There are three aspects of Platonic beauty. These three aspects work together to encapsulate Plato’s unique metaphysics.
The first aspect of Platonic beauty is that it is a transcendent aesthetic idea. It is rooted in the spirit’s memories. It is the aristocratic ideal of kalos k’agathos, or all-round praise. It has a special role in ethical approbation.
The second aspect of Platonic beauty is that it focuses on the soul’s progress toward ever-purer beauty. Socrates calls the soul’s progression toward beauty “a yearning for the good,” and the best state for a human soul is the state of being in controlled balance.
Aquinas
During his day, Thomas Aquinas had a “great theory” of beauty. It was a theory that emphasized the presence of the beautiful and its relation to knowledge.
Aquinas’s understanding of beauty is different from that of his contemporaries. In Aquinas, beauty is a morally relevant element of the natural world.
Moreover, Aquinas’s definition of beauty includes a subjective component. This makes it harder to judge than physical beauty. Nevertheless, Aquinas leaves the door open for different interpretations.
Aquinas’s concept of beauty relates to form, as well as to harmony. Form refers to the proportioned parts of matter, while harmony implies an idea of order and calm. Aquinas’s definition of good likewise includes a subjective element.
Aquinas’s doctrine of transcendentals provides a metaphysical basis for knowledge. It also gives a metaphysical foundation for the theory of human action. Hence, Aquinas’s analysis of beauty, including his argument that beauty is related to knowledge, is closely connected to ethics.
While Aquinas does not explicitly refer to beautiful as a transcendental, he does suggest that the presence of the beautiful is a necessary condition of knowledge. He charts a course via media between two common extremes.
Aquinas’s conception of beauty is a reflection of his belief in the supremacy of God. He argues that God cares for beauty and has an aesthetic appreciation for it. In Aquinas’s understanding, beauty is deeply good. It is the mode of good, the way in which good is expressed. It is the ultimate perfection of the universe. The perfectio prima is the first institution of things. It consists in attribution of a due form to the soul, intellect, and will.
Kant
Whether you like it or not, you are likely to have encountered the idea of Kant’s Beauty at least once in your life. The concept of the beautiful has been debated and developed throughout the centuries, and has even been reinterpreted by contemporary writers such as Pierre Lyotard and Gilles Deleuze.
In Kant’s Critique of Aesthetic Judgment, Immanuel Kant defines four basic features of aesthetic judgments. His account of the sublime reveals how he relates his concepts to Aristotle’s notions of pity and catharsis in tragedy.
In Kant’s Critique, the sublime is defined as the highest attainable form of aesthetic experience. The aesthetic experience is accompanied by a series of “moments”, which are structured in obscure ways according to Kant’s table of categories. In other words, these are moments that are equidistant and flattening. This allows for information to be gathered at any moment.
Aesthetic experience is a complex and inexplicable phenomenon unless we have the intuitive and conceptual dimensions to it. Kant argues that these characteristics must be peculiar to aesthetic judgments. He identifies four of these, namely the concept of quality, quantity, relation and modality. These concepts are the preconditions for an aesthetic experience.
In addition to defining the concept of the sublime, Kant demonstrates how aesthetic judgments relate to Aristotle’s ideas of pity and fear in tragedy. He includes examples of architecture, plant and animal life, as well as visual art.
In his book, Kant argues that aesthetic judgments are more complex than ordinary reflective judgments. He explains how the concept of beauty is necessary but not sufficient for the aesthetic experience. He also argues that the concept of beauty is not a function of culture or mood.
Realists
Traditionally, aesthetics and naturalism emphasized faithful observation of nature and artistic skill. But modern art is pessimistic and depressing.
Aesthetic realism, on the other hand, identifies the human attitude to the world as the most important aspect of a person’s life. It seeks to understand how the world can be liked honestly. Unlike other approaches to the self, it emphasizes the importance of having a positive attitude toward the world. It aims to oppose contempt for reality and racism.
Aesthetic realism is different from moral realism in that it does not deny that mind-dependent properties, such as pleasure, have a role in the good and bad of a person. However, it is less likely to be taken seriously by moral realists.
Realists in beauty recognize the fact that there are many definitions of elegance. One common assumption is that beauty is constitutively dependent on pleasure. This is inconsistent with realism, since realism accords things an independent existence, and pleasure is not independent of pleasure.
Realists in beauty also reject the incompatibilist precept, which argues that realism in a particular domain is false. The incompatibilist claim is usually based on the notion that judgments in that domain are basically affective, but that it is not true in other domains.
Realism in art takes its source from God. He created the heavens and earth. He separated the light and dark and separated them into tonal values. This is the blueprint for realism in art. A strong realistic work of art enlightens viewers and can communicate a theological message to the mass.
The realist accounts of beauty do not qualify as R1-R3 realist accounts. They are merely accounts of facts about beauty that are constituted by actual or hypothetical attitudes of actual or ideal observers.
