History of western philosophy Ancient Greek The classical Greek noun that best translates to the English-language words "beauty" or "beautiful" was κάλλος, kallos, and the adjective was καλός, kalos. However, kalos may and is also translated as ″good″ or ″of fine quality″ and thus has a broader meaning than mere physical or material beauty. Similarly, kallos was used differently from the English word beauty in that it first and foremost applied to humans and bears an erotic connotation. The Koine Greek word for beautiful was ὡραῖος, hōraios,Matthew 23:27, Acts 3:10, Flavius Josephus, 12.65 an adjective etymologically coming from the word ὥρα, hōra, meaning "hour". In Koine Greek, beauty was thus associated with "being of one's hour".Euripides, Alcestis 515. Thus, a ripe fruit (of its time) was considered beautiful, whereas a young woman trying to appear older or an older woman trying to appear younger would not be considered beautiful. In Attic Greek, hōraios had many meanings, including "youthful" and "ripe old age". Another classical term in use to describe beauty was pulchrum (Latin). Socrates and Plato The writing of Xenophon shows a conversation between Socrates and Aristippus. Socrates discerned differences in the conception of the beautiful, for example, in inanimate objects, the effectiveness of execution of design was a deciding factor on the perception of beauty in something. By the account of Xenophon, Socrates found beauty congruent with that to which was defined as the morally good, in short, he thought beauty coincident with the good.N Wilson - Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece (p.20) Routledge, 31 Oct 2013 [Retrieved 2015-05-12] Aristotle Aristotle defines beauty in Metaphysics as having order, symmetry and definiteness which the mathematical sciences exhibit to a special degree. He saw a relationship between the beautiful (to kalon) and virtue, arguing that "Virtue aims at the beautiful."Nicomachean Ethics  Middle Ages In the Middle Ages, Catholic philosophers like Thomas Aquinas included beauty among the transcendental attributes of being.Eco, Umberto (1988). The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ. Press. p. 98. . In his Summa Theologica, Aquinas described the three conditions of beauty as: integritas (wholeness), consonantia (harmony and proportion), and claritas (a radiance and clarity that makes the form of a thing apparent to the mind).McNamara, Denis Robert (2009). Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy. Hillenbrand Books. pp. 24–28. . Romantic period In the Romantic period, Edmund Burke postulated a difference between beauty in its classical meaning and the sublime.Doran, Robert (2017). The Theory of the Sublime from Longinus to Kant. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 144. . The concept of the sublime, as explicated by Burke and Kant, suggested viewing Gothic art and architecture, though not in accordance with the classical standard of beauty, as sublime.Monk, Samuel Holt (1960). The Sublime: A Study of Critical Theories in XVIII-century England. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 6–9, 141. . 20th century and after The 20th century saw an increasing rejection of beauty by artists and philosophers alike, culminating in postmodernism's anti-aesthetics. This is despite beauty being a central concern of one of postmodernism's main influences, Friedrich Nietzsche, who argued that the Will to Power was the Will to Beauty.
Beauty in philosophy Greco-Roman tradition The classical Greek noun that best translates to the English-language words "beauty" or "beautiful" was κάλλος, kallos, and the adjective was καλός, kalos. However, kalos may and is also translated as ″good″ or ″of fine quality″ and thus has a broader meaning than mere physical or material beauty. Similarly, kallos was used differently from the English word beauty in that it first and foremost applied to humans and bears an erotic connotation. The Koine Greek word for beautiful was ὡραῖος, hōraios,Matthew 23:27, Acts 3:10, Flavius Josephus, 12.65 an adjective etymologically coming from the word ὥρα, hōra, meaning "hour". In Koine Greek, beauty was thus associated with "being of one's hour".Euripides, Alcestis 515. Thus, a ripe fruit (of its time) was considered beautiful, whereas a young woman trying to appear older or an older woman trying to appear younger would not be considered beautiful. In Attic Greek, hōraios had many meanings, including "youthful" and "ripe old age". Another classical term in use to describe beauty was pulchrum (Latin). The writing of Xenophon shows a conversation between Socrates and Aristippus. Socrates discerned differences in the conception of the beautiful, for example, in inanimate objects, the effectiveness of execution of design was a deciding factor on the perception of beauty in something. By the account of Xenophon, Socrates found beauty congruent with that to which was defined as the morally good, in short, he thought beauty coincident with the good.N Wilson - Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece (p.20) Routledge, 31 Oct 2013 [Retrieved 2015-05-12] Aristotle defines beauty in Metaphysics as having order, symmetry and definiteness which the mathematical sciences exhibit to a special degree. He saw a relationship between the beautiful (to kalon) and virtue, arguing that "Virtue aims at the beautiful."Nicomachean Ethics Western Middle Ages In the Middle Ages, Catholic philosophers like Thomas Aquinas included beauty among the transcendental attributes of being.Eco, Umberto (1988). The Aesthetics of Thomas Aquinas. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard Univ. Press. p. 98. . In his Summa Theologica, Aquinas described the three conditions of beauty as: integritas (wholeness), consonantia (harmony and proportion), and claritas (a radiance and clarity that makes the form of a thing apparent to the mind).McNamara, Denis Robert (2009). Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy. Hillenbrand Books. pp. 24–28. . Western 19th and 20th century In the Romantic period, Edmund Burke postulated a difference between beauty in its classical meaning and the sublime.Doran, Robert (2017). The Theory of the Sublime from Longinus to Kant. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 144. . The concept of the sublime, as explicated by Burke and Kant, suggested viewing Gothic art and architecture, though not in accordance with the classical standard of beauty, as sublime.Monk, Samuel Holt (1960). The Sublime: A Study of Critical Theories in XVIII-century England. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. pp. 6–9, 141. . The 20th century saw an increasing rejection of beauty by artists and philosophers alike, culminating in postmodernism's anti-aesthetics. This is despite beauty being a central concern of one of postmodernism's main influences, Friedrich Nietzsche, who argued that the Will to Power was the Will to Beauty.
R
History of western philosophy Ancient Greek
Beauty in philosophy Greco-Roman tradition
D
Socrates and Plato
D
Aristotle
A
Western
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Romantic period
Western 19th and 20th century
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20th century and after