Elizabeth Prettejohn - Beauty and Art; 1750–2000

Вестник СПбГУ. Философия и конфликтология, 2018

The term "beauty" has been a key category of aesthetic thinking for a long time. Relevancy of beauty of art, represented in ancient times by Plato's transcendental theory of beauty or more factual inductive beauty of empirically oriented Aristotle and many others thinkers, placed beauty as a priority category of the world, including the world of art. Modern approaches primarily follow Kantian and Hegelian idealistic aesthetics of beauty, however, the state of today's art world, or in the broader context, the aesthetic world of the 20 th century, doubt beauty and even dethrone it from its pedestal. Does it make sense today to examine about beauty of art? Has beauty as an attribute of art not ended its journey together with the idea of the end of art? The paper aims to follow the connotations of beauty losing its place in art in the context of the end of art (Hegel and Danto) or end of its history (Belting). Contemporary new thematiza-tion of beauty after a century dominated by the ugly or the sublime in art (from Kant's and Lyotard's point of view) is an important shift showing beauty not only as a remnant of history but rather as a vital source that is worthily gaining renewed attention and new varieties with the spread of interdisciplinary approaches.

Croatian Journal of Philosophy, 2021

Figurationen, 2001

2019

Examines the birth of the notion of beauty in Western art (together with the birth of the notion of "art") and its subsequent death. Also briefly discusses certain implications for modern aesthetics.

If there is one favorite judgment which is practiced often on a daily basis, it is the judgment of beauty. From the moment we get use to the notion as a child, we’ve been determining what is beautiful accordingly. However, when asked of, in the manner of Socrates, what that so-called beauty might be, we almost immediately resort to or somehow imply the famous Roman saying; “taste and color are not to be discussed”. Hence, the problem of beauty emerges as being a relative experience (be it on a personal or cultural level) under a universal concept. As to what that universal property of beauty is and under which conditions this necessary and all-inclusive concept can be satisfied concerning its necessarily subjective and particular experience will be the matter of investigation here. In that vein, we will be contrasting two different approaches, namely Kantian and Platonic and consequently restrict ourselves to their thoughts on the issue which seem to come up with perfectly antithetical answers. If we consider the fact that esthetics as we know today is laid down in its basic problems and principles by Kant for the first time in philosophy - regardless of its name being given by Baumgarten for different reasons -, and Plato being the first to name and define philosophy as a discreet discipline with a distinct method, then the contrasting of the two may seem in a way as a spanning of the history of thinking on the problem of beauty in its two basic opposite positions. Accordingly, Kant will be discussed critically in his analysis of beauty in his “Critique of Judgment” together with his crucial definition of “symbol” at the end of the first part of the book. In contrast, Plato will be discussed as to his notion of philosophy itself being dependent upon the experience of beauty, only to discover that according to his thought, esthetics is philosophy per se. Conclusively, the difference between two views on the matter which deeply inspired both eastern and western cultures alike and their possible and hidden common ground as a bridge between eastern and western notions of beauty will be discussed taking up symbol as a necessary criterion and guide for understanding the experience of beauty itself.

in: Huemer, Wolfgang and Vendrell Ferran, Íngrid (eds) Beauty. New Essays in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, Philosophia Verlag, München, 2019

The notion of beauty has endured a troublesome history over the last few decades. While for centuries beauty has been considered one of the central values of art, there have also been times when it seemed old-fashioned to even mention the term. The present volume aims to explore the nature of beauty and to shed light on its place in contemporary philosophy and art practice.

2012

A set of notes taken during the Autumn term (2015) of my MA in History and Philosophy of Art at the University of Kent. The notes are in response to the literature, teaching and discussions as part of the Module: 'Key Concepts and Classic Texts in History and Philosophy of Art'.

Estetika: The Central European Journal of Aesthetics, 2016

The term "beauty" has been a key category of aesthetic thinking for a long time. Relevancy of beauty of art, represented in ancient times by Plato's transcendental theory of beauty or more factual inductive beauty of empirically oriented Aristotle and many others thinkers, placed beauty as a priority category of the world, including the world of art. Modern approaches primarily follow Kantian and Hegelian idealistic aesthetics of beauty, however, the state of today's art world, or in the broader context, the aesthetic world of the 20th century, doubt beauty and even dethrone it from its pedestal. Does it make sense today to examine about beauty of art? Has beauty as an attribute of art not ended its journey together with the idea of the end of art? The paper aims to follow the connotations of beauty losing its place in art in the context of the end of art (Hegel and Danto) or end of its history (Belting). Contemporary new thematization of beauty after a century dominated by the ugly or the sublime in art (from Kant's and Lyotard's point of view) is an important shift showing beauty not only as a remnant of history but rather as a vital source that is worthily gaining renewed attention and new varieties with the spread of interdisciplinary approaches.