Contemporary Approach to the Understanding of the Notion of “Beautiful” as an Aesthetic Category

Abstract

The author elaborates the idea of modern aesthetics that the
notion of “beautiful” is not a fundamental category of modern art and modern
philosophy of art. Under the direct influence of science and arts modern
philosophy has added to the categories such notions as probability, absurdity,
the mundane, the understanding etc. On the other hand a new understanding of
society and man prompted the introduction of such categories as lifeworld, fear,
solitariness, care, doubt, language games etc. It has become evident that many
categories are not only blurred but rather heterogeneous, thus the “system of
categories” is something to be referred to with considerable reservations.
The article proposes a preliminary definition and interpretation of the beautiful
and the main principles of the analysis of the beautiful. In the most general and
tentative terms the “beautiful” can be defined as something that complies with
the idea of beauty accepted in a given society or civilization. Ideas of beauty can
vary from culture to culture and from civilization to civilization. This is no to say
that certain, albeit few, objects cannot be considered beautiful throughout many
historical epochs. Standards of beauty as well as social standards in general,
do not refer to any object but only to certain types of objects. Consequently
“beautiful” is always “beautiful of a kind”. Beauty in general does not exist, there
are only beautiful objects of a definite kind.
The article maintains that there are at least three reasons why the “beautiful”
cannot be verbally defined. The first is methodological, the second is social and
the third is related to the peculiarities of the beautiful itself, primarily it sensual
nature. In the first place the degree of clarity of scientific notions depends on the
level of the development of science. The scientific study of arts is a never-ending
venture. And while it continues, its categories and in particular the category of
the beautiful will require clarification.