The Meaning of "Beauty" and Its Transcendental Status in the Metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas
This dissertation investigates whether "beauty" is a transcendental in the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas. For Thomas, a transcendental is a term that expresses a distinct attribute of every being insofar as it exists, and which therefore reveals something unique about the nature of all reality. Hence, the question of whether beauty is a transcendental for Thomas has important implications not only for his metaphysics, but for his thought in general. The Introduction argues that the question we are investigating actually consists of two questions, a historical one and a systematic one: "Did Thomas himself consider beauty to be a distinct transcendental?" and "Does Thomas's thought imply or entail that beauty is a distinct transcendental?" Furthermore, since beauty cannot be a distinct attribute of every being for Thomas unless it has a distinct meaning, neither question can be answered in isolation from a third question: "What is the meaning of 'beauty' in Thomas's thought?" Chapter One examines the historical question regarding beauty's transcendental status, namely whether Thomas himself considered beauty a transcendental. The chapter proceeds by extracting from his writings the characteristics that distinguish the transcendentals from all other terms, and then determining whether he attributes these marks to beauty. Chapter Two begins our investigation of the systematic question regarding beauty's transcendental status, namely whether Thomas's metaphysics implies or entails that beauty is a transcendental. The chapter examines the attempts of certain contemporary Thomists to prove either that beauty is a transcendental or that it is not. Our examination of the systematic question concerning beauty's transcendental status continues with an analysis of Thomas's opinions on both the subjective factors of aesthetic experience, i.e. a person's perception of and delight in beauty, and the objective factors of that experience, i.e. the ontological conditions for beauty in a being. Hence, we investigate the nature of aesthetic perception in Chapter Three, the nature of aesthetic pleasure in Chapter Four, and the nature of beauty's conditions in Chapter Five. The sixth and final chapter uses these findings to formulate a conclusion regarding the meaning of beauty and its transcendental status in Thomas's metaphysics.
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