Different Perceptions of Beauty in Nature

Through the course of Plato’s dialogues, his vision of Eros evolves through different stages. Socrates says that the path to achieving a vision of true beauty is to follow stages which will lead to the highest form of beauty, through the development of reason. The author David Roochnik explains that “Philosophy attempts to articulate the vision of beauty itself and thereby to satisfy the highest human desire. Only beauty itself, understood as an object of human Eros, can produce a satisfying logos. Unlike all others, philosophical logos does not run out” (146).

So what does it mean to make a pure aesthetic judgment of the beautiful? Kant investigates whether the ‘power’ of judgment provides itself with an priori principle. This principle would assert the suitability of all nature for our faculty of judgment in general. Four Moments/Disinterested Kant wonders how fine art- or the beauty of works of art- is possible and categorizes aesthetic judgments (or ‘judgments of taste’) into four “moments.” In the “First Moment” judgments of beauty are based on feeling, specifically the feelings of pleasure (he also discusses feelings of pain). However this pleasure is what he calls “disinterested.” Meaning that the subject does not need to desire the object in order to experience pleasure from it, nor must the object generate desire.

He was a psychological hedonist because he argued that we aim only at pleasure for its own sake. He was an ethical hedonist because he believed that only pleasure has true value. Similarly, he was called both a psychological and ethical egoist because he claimed that what we are aiming for and what is valuable to each of us is our own pleasure. (Epicurus (1994) text 4) With this in mind, we are ready to move on to the arguments for why the only thing we desire for its own sake is pleasure, and why it is best to keep our desires simple. First we will examine the thesis "The only thing we desire for its own sake is pleasure."

As a consequentialist he believed when determining whether something is good or bad one must simply consider whether it gives us pleasure. Thus he states that pleasure is ‘the starting point and the goal of the happy life.’ This can be further understood by looking into his teachings on ethical and psychological hedonism. For Epicurus happiness is defined as obtaining pleasure and also achieving ataraxia, which is tranquillity of the mind. Desire for pleasure is an inherent aspect of human nature and thus the “starting point” of all human motivation. His anthropology states that the ultimate motivation for our actions is the search for pleasure, and given that there is nothing beyond bodies and their affects, the real path to the “good life is a life” of pleasure.

According to Diotima, Love is a spirit that mediates between man and gods and is therefore not a god. He argues that an ascetic life with passion for wisdom and beauty is the true Love. By saying this, Plato is rejecting the act of sexual love. This argument is in harmony with a philosopher's pursuit of truth. The ultimate goal is to live a pure life so that afterlife goes as smoothly as possible.

The case may simply be that acting in accordance with the nature of humanity is the way to true contentment, and that the only truth is that humanity lives in a world build solely on a subjective reality, and rhetoric and language are just part of that nature. Works Cited On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense, Nietzsche. United States of America: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2001. 1171-1179. Print Gorgias, Plato.

This is a perfect analogy as the chemist must analyze the natural elements to others in a way that is both eminent and crucial to their understanding of whatever it is that they are seeing. Thus, his purpose is the same rationale as the aesthetic critic’s is to be, that of analyzing the objects and reducing it down to its bare element; therefore distilling its true purpose of being there. Lastly, Pater argues that it is exceedingly important for an art critic to not have any preset definition of what is abstract beauty; but rather to have a certain kind of attribute in their personality, that being of one who is stimulated and in a state of child like ecstasy in seeing any genuine work of art. Pater chose the Renaissance to make his points about aesthetic criticism for many reasons. He was both influenced by the sheer intellect and imaginatio... ... middle of paper ... ...nything truly worthwhile, genuine, or meaningful in our truth to find the meaning of life and of ourselves.

Unlike Plato, Aristotle questions and concludes that virtue does not suffice happiness. His definition of happiness is the activity of the soul in accordance with the most perfect virtue. He believes one must be active and make full use of his/her rational capacities to function well. This perfecting of ones character was Aristotle?s key to happiness. Augustine shares with that of Plato and Aristotle that virtue is necessary, but he disagrees that is all of what is needed.

Virtuous motivation pleases immediately although independently of any antecedent interest, on the basis of a free employment of intellectual faculties, and with universal validity.” Assuming Kant is referring to physical beauty, Kant explains that beauty is something that is objective to all as it pleases and provides freedom to humans. He further explains that virtue is same in giving pleasure giving human intellectual freedom, and compares beauty and virtue by claiming they are parallel. He believes beauty has an impact on moral decisions and defines this as the groundwork of morality. While Kant defends this idea, Aristotle and Hume disagrees with Kant, stating that a virtue is morality, beauty is not a virtue, therefore beauty is n... ... middle of paper ... ...y. Aristotle’s and David Hume’s disprove Kant’s argument. Aristotle states that virtue is only defined by the state of the character determined by an individual’s actions only, proving beauty can’t be virtue.

Likewise, to associate the Templar’s action to miracle disguises our own cowardice by connecting courage with divinity. Consequently, Lessing, through the character of Nathan, reaffirms human strength and ... ... middle of paper ... ...is not viable since it does not answer fundamental questions inherent to human beings: Why am I what I am? Why am I here? In conclusion, Lessing’s Nathan the Wise argues in favour of a religion in which the focus is redirected on human beings. His conception of a universal religion of reason refers to a praising of human reason without ignoring existing religious beliefs.