9. History of Aesthetics: Ancient Philosophy Summary
I began writing History of Aesthetics about six months ago. This project resulted directly from multiple people expressing their wish to know more about this history. I took inspiration partly from the serial books of the past, so it is released in shorter segments, rather than waiting years for a whole book to come out.
Because it is such a time-consuming endeavor, I had to limit most of these posts to paid subscribers. But I wanted to pause here and summarize what we’ve covered so far, now that we have finished discussing the ancient world.
Chapters
Key Takeaways
People often seem surprised to learn that ancient philosophers had some carefully developed ideas about art and beauty. More specifically, there are some differences between a contemporary way of thinking about art and beauty and the cultural ideas of the ancients.
Art was not regarded the same way as we might be accustomed to now. The ancient world did not think of the “fine arts” as we do today. Art was more what we would call craft. However, they still believed that art could influence people. This is why Plato thought it was better to banish the artists than to allow them to lead the youth down a bad path. Luckily, Aristotle offered a different approach, maintaining that art could be useful for teaching and also providing catharsis. Concerning the purpose of art, they believed art exists for imitation. This view dominated theories of art for a long time.
When it comes to beauty, many take it for granted that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But that phrase is relatively new in the history of human thought. Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus believed that beauty had its foundation in something outside of the human mind. In other words, people don’t determine what is beautiful, they discover beauty in the world. It was common to believe that knowledge and experience were important for discovering beauty, as Plato likens this process to ascending stairs.
Beauty, truth, and goodness were intimately linked in their minds. For example, Plato was concerned about the effects of art on the youth, while Plotinus suggests that humans should strive for beautiful souls. This is why beauty (or a lack thereof) can affect people’s goodness. And attending to truth can guide people toward beauty or vice versa. Even now, many scientists claim that searching for beauty steers much of their research. Looking to the past may help us see that there is more connection among these three than we might have previously considered.
We will now move on to discuss the philosophers and theologians of the Middle Ages, including Augustine and Thomas Aquinas.
Relevant ARL Articles
Beauty: Objective or Subjective
ARL News
Bella Zhang and I have created a new course called Aesthetic Paths to Flourishing. November 3 & 17. Registration is now open.
Digital Fashion: Theory, Practice, Implications, edited by Michael R. Spicher, Sara Emilia Bernat, and Doris Domoszlai-Lantner, is available for purchase!
Please be sure to look for events about the digital fashion book in the coming months.