Aesthetics in Ancient Philosophy

 

Ancient Aesthetics: A Question of Compatibility and Challenges

The Concept of Ancient Aesthetics
• Ancient aesthetics emerged in the 18th century, making it an anachronism to discuss ancient Greek and Roman aesthetics.
• Oskar Kristeller, an influential critic, argued that ancient aesthetics was not a philosophical discipline due to its focus on moral, religious, and practical aspects of art.
• Kristeller's critique is still relevant in works dealing with ancient ideas on arts and beauty.

Criticism of Kristeller's Interpretation
• Stephen Halliwell criticized Kristeller's argument, arguing that the concept of mimesis was a more unified concept of art than Kristeller allows.
• James Porter criticized Kristeller's premises and conclusions, arguing that the concept of fine arts does not indicate the emergence of aesthetic theory.
• Plato and Aristotle's ideas are relevant to modern philosophers and address foundational questions of aesthetics and philosophy of art.

The Translation and Conceptualization of the term to Kalon
• The term to kalon (honestum in Latin) has ambiguous meanings, ranging from 'beauty' to 'being appropriate.'
• Early 21st-century thinkers argue that to kalon and similar Greek and Latin terms should be read as aesthetic concepts.
• Some studies argue that the conceptualisation and translation of the term depend on the context in which it is found.

Three Types of Theories about the Origin of Beauty
• Proportion: The idea that beauty originates from the proportion of the parts of an object is one of the most straightforward ways of accounting for beauty.
• Polycleitus, a sculptor, is usually credited with the idea that beauty derives from summetria, meaning good, appropriate or fitting proportionality.

Philosophical Perspectives on Numbers and Beauty

Pythagoreans
• The Pythagoreans, active in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.E., believed that numbers underlie the world's ontological and epistemological structure.
• They argued that everything in the world can be explained in terms of numbers and their relationship, namely, proportion.
• They used beauty as a property to support their doctrine, claiming its presence can be fully explained in terms of numbers or the proportion and harmony expressed in numerical relationships.
• Sextus Empiricus recorded the Pythagorean argument that sculpture and painting achieve their ends by means of numbers, and thus art cannot exist without proportion and number.

Music
• The Pythagoreans had a well-known interest in music, with Pythagoras being the first to pinpoint the mathematics underlying the Greek music scale.
• Music is said to have a positive influence on a person’s soul, comparable to the effect that medicine has on a person’s body.

Plato and Aristotle
• Plato is best classified as a Form Theorist, but a few passages suggest a viewpoint derived from summetria, or a good proportion or ratio of parts.
• In the Timaeus, lacking summetria is associated with lacking beauty.
• Aristotle named summetria one of the chief forms of beauty, alongside order and definiteness.
• Aristotle also claimed that size was also necessary for beauty, as seen in Nicomachean Ethics 4.3.

The Stoics
• The Stoics defined beauty as originating from the summetria of parts with each other and with the whole.
• This definition applies to both the beauty of the body and the beauty of the soul.
• The Stoics often invoked the notion of functional beauty, likely a combination of functional and proportion theories.

Functional Theory in Ancient Philosophy

Xenophon's Functional Theory
• Xenophon's Memorabilia presents a functional theory of beauty.
• Socrates argues that beauty is dependent on the same things that men use, such as functionality.
• The term "to kalon" is used to describe functionality, suggesting that pleasure is gained from perceiving functionality rather than pleasing, artificial colors and structures.

Hippias Major's Functional Definition of Beauty
• Socrates proposes a functional definition of beauty in his dialogue with Hippias.
• He presents two cases where a beauty-making property is not inherent to an object but its functionality.
• This rejection of Hippias' suggestion that beauty is gold is based on the fact that beauty is not inherent but rather derived from functionality.

Aristotle's Functional Theory
• Aristotle's work describes excellence in functionality through the term "to kalon."
• He states that fitting a function and to kalon are the same, indicating that fitting a function and to kalon are the same.
• Aristotle's descriptions of natural phenomena, such as the generation of bees and the prospect of eating rabbits, provide pertinent passages for functionalist understanding of aesthetic properties.

The Stoics' Functional and Aesthetic Language
• Panaetius uses the term "to prepon" in ethical arguments, comparing poetry and human behavior.
• Panaetius argues that humans are functional entities with a certain function and end, and that achieving that end produces beauty.

Plato's Theory of Forms and Aesthetics
• Plato's theory of forms posits that universal, ideal paradigms, or forms, are the cause of aesthetic properties.
• Beauty, like many other properties, is generated by its respective form.
• The form of Beauty is mentioned as the cause of beauty throughout the Platonic corpus.
• The form of Beauty has a special connection with the form of Good, even if they are not identical.
• The acquisition of knowledge, or the knowledge of the forms, is represented as the Ladder of Love.
• The form of Beauty is everlasting, unchanging, and not only beautiful at one point but ugly at another.

Plotinus' View on Beauty
• Plotinus, a follower of Plato, also believed that beauty originated from the form of Beauty.
• He argued that the Intellect (nous) is the cause of beauty, imposing forms onto passive matter and producing beauty.
• Forms unify disarrayed and chaotic elements into harmony, producing beauty that 'communicates itself' to both parts and the whole.
• Plotinus' metaphysics and aesthetics converge in the analogy between Intellect shaping the universe and a sculptor shaping a piece of stone into a statue.
• The beauty of the actual forms is purely intellectual,'seen' with the mind’s eye.

Plotinus and Plato's Views on Artistic Beauty
• Plotinus and Plato both argue that visible beauty is inferior, but Plotinus warns against devaluing artistic activities.
• Plotinus argues that nature imitates some things, and arts do not simply imitate what is seen by the eye but refer back to the principles of nature.
• Arts produce many things not by copying, but from themselves. They add what is lacking, because arts contain beauty themselves.

Philosophy of Art
• Mimesis, a term for imitation in art, is a widely used term in Greek thought.
• Mimesis refers to imitation in a broad sense, including acts such as following an example of someone’s behavior or adopting a certain custom.
• Aristotle grouped poetry with “the other mimetic arts” in the Poetics, suggesting a distinct group of artistic activities resembling the notion of fine arts.

Plato’s Republic Analysis of Mimesis
• Socrates and the interlocutors agree to ban certain stories based on their content from the guardians’ education and the ideal city-state.
• Socrates distinguishes direct speech from imitative speech, suggesting that a poem in the former style contains no mimesis.
• The discussion turns to the question of whether mimetic poets ought to be allowed into the city-state and whether guardians themselves could be mimetai.
• The main argument against mimesis in the ideal city is that the guardians should imitate the properties of virtue, not shameful or slavish acts.
• Only a pure imitator of a good person should be allowed into the city-state.

Aristotle's Perspective on Poetry and Criticism of Arts

Aristotle's Theory of Poetry
• Poetics originates from human nature's natural inclination to mimesis, a method of learning from childhood and a source of delight.
• People delight in artistic depictions of objects, either because they recognize the person depicted or admire the execution, color, etc.
• This principle applies not only to visual arts but also to poetry due to the natural inclination to mimesis combined with the sense of harmony and rhythm.

Differences Between Poetry and History
• Poets differ from historians by describing what might happen, not what happened.
• The difference lies in the focus of the former on statements about particulars, while the latter is concerned with universal statements.
• Some tragedies use historical characters, but this is because “what is possible is credible.”
• The poet is a poet because of the plot rather than the verse, as the defining characteristic of such activity is the imitation of action.

Critique of Arts by Plato
• Plato saw potential dangers associated with mimetic activities.
• He argued that the products of artistic activities are twice removed from what is actually the case.
• Plato's theory of art is more complex, with criticism being only one aspect of his treatment of artistic mimesis.
• Socrates suggests an analogy between the ideal political state and an idealised portrait, arguing that there is more to painting than the copying of appearances.
• Socrates also praised Homer, who is said to be the best of the tragedians, and made concessions for hymns to god and eulogies to good people.

Epicurean Perspective on Poetry and Art
• Epicureans, a Hellenistic philosophical school, were critical of poetry, particularly the atomist physics and hedonist ethics.
• Epicurus, the founder of the school, criticized muthos, stories told by poets, for their potential to instill anxiety in listeners.
• He argued against traditional education, including poetry, but did not oppose poetry or arts.
• Lucretius, the author of the Epicurean epic poem De Rerum Natura, viewed poetry differently, arguing that only an Epicurean would discuss music and poetry correctly.

Catharsis and Sublime
• Catharsis is a psychological phenomenon often associated with the effects of art on humans.
• Aristotle described catharsis in Poetics and Politics, highlighting its influence on emotions and judgements.
• The concept of catharsis has both religious and medical connotations, but recent interpretations suggest it is primarily a psychological phenomenon with ethical aspects.

Sublime
• The term "sublime" originated in antiquity and was later adopted by Kant and Burke.
• The main source for the theory of the sublime is the handbook on oratory titled Peri Hupsous.
• Longinus describes the sublime as a property of style, "certain loftiness and excellence of language."
• Longinus suggests that sublimity originates from five sources: the greatness of thought, a vigorous treatment of passions, skill in employing figures of thought and speech, dignified expressions, and majesty and elevation of structure.