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Dugas, Alex 2018 MACS - ETD.pdf (706.45 KB)

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Beauty, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Philosophy of Beauty of Plotinus and St. Augustine

Dugas, Alex T.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=athe1526051732407169

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Arts in Catholic Studies, Athenaeum of Ohio, School of Theology.
The aesthetic theory of Plotinus and St. Augustine have much in common in their understanding of the beautiful. The pagan mysticism of Plotinus and his reliance on the Platonic tradition allowed him to develop an ascensional aesthetic theory. Plotinus’ theory maintains the objectivity of beauty alongside other transcendental properties of being. The soul, first understanding the lower beauties of the sensible world, ascends to higher beauties such as the virtues, noble conduct, and the soul, and finally to the Supreme Beauty of the One. Beauty on Earth is a reflection of the Beauty of the One. Augustine’s aesthetics is also ascensional, and there is clear evidence of the inspiration he received from Plotinus. Objective beauty is again defended here. Augustine’s thought on beauty encourages the soul to ascend from the sensible things of the world—which are not evil or unworthy of attention—towards intelligible beauty and finally to God. The dynamic is very similar to Plotinus, but what makes the essential difference in this system is the Incarnation and Augustine’s faith. He equates Beauty with God and as such the Son of Man is also Absolute Beauty. This difference in the aesthetic theory of Augustine allows one to actually reach the Beauty for which all men long. This difference in Augustine’s philosophy of beauty should be given the notice it is due by the Church today. The importance of beauty in a world of ugliness is more urgent for the modern world than in times past. Catholics should recognize the essential role beauty plays in encouraging the mind’s ascent to God.
David J. Endres, Ph.D. (Advisor)
54 p.
Aesthetics; Philosophy
beauty; aesthetic theory; Plotinus; Augustine

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dugas, A. T. (2018). Beauty, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Philosophy of Beauty of Plotinus and St. Augustine [Master's thesis, Athenaeum of Ohio]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=athe1526051732407169

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dugas, Alex. Beauty, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Philosophy of Beauty of Plotinus and St. Augustine. 2018. Athenaeum of Ohio, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=athe1526051732407169.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dugas, Alex. "Beauty, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Philosophy of Beauty of Plotinus and St. Augustine." Master's thesis, Athenaeum of Ohio, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=athe1526051732407169

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

athe1526051732407169
12,625
© 2018, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Beauty, Ever Ancient, Ever New: The Philosophy of Beauty of Plotinus and St. Augustine by Alex T. Dugas is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Athenaeum of Ohio and OhioLINK.