Plotinus on Beauty

Gál, Ota

doi:10.1163/9789004510203

Cited by 3 publications

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“…But even this analogy is highly tenuous, given that the Intellect is multiple in Plotinus, while the Stoic God is unmixed and one in the state of conflagration. This difference also has implications for how their beauty is understood: In Plotinus, the Intellect is the most beautiful, as the most unified multiplicity (Gál 2022), while the Stoic God is the most beautiful, as the result of being in the purest (i.e. unmixed) state.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Stoic Conception of Bodily Beauty as Symmetry

Gál¹

2023

Aither

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This paper provides an interpretation of the Stoic notion of bodily beauty as the symmetry of parts with respect to one another and to the whole. Symmetry is caused by the structuring activity of the rational spirit in multiplicity, making the beautiful thing an ordered whole. This is true for particular bodies in the world and, even more so, for the cosmos as a particular world order. I follow some traces in Stoic texts suggesting that this is also (and a fortiori) true for the cosmos, in the sense of God in conflagration, which somehow represents symmetry in its purest state.

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Section: /2022mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Stoic Conception of Bodily Beauty as Symmetry

Gál¹

2023

Aither

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Schönheit, Kunst

Pietsch

2024

Plotin-Handbuch

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Beauty Is the Gravitas Amoris: A Trinitarian Correlation of Beauty and Love

Luke

2024

Religions

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There have been many attempts to give a precise definition of beauty. In this article, I join a tradition of trinitarian reflection on beauty and attempt to add further clarity to a trinitarian definition of beauty. Beauty, in my construal, is the gravitas amoris of the triune being of love—it is, in other words, the objective attractional “force” or “weightiness” exerted by triune love on the soul by which one, if she yields to triune love, experiences the bliss and delight of triune love and is thereby drawn into deifying union. This article will proceed as follows: First, I will survey the relationship between beauty and love found in the classic philosophical tradition represented by Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus. Then, I will survey this beauty–love relation in Christian thought from Augustine, Aquinas, Ficino, Edwards, and von Hildebrand. These figures will provide supporting evidence for my construal of beauty. I then turn to the constructive task. I argue that there is an abductive fit between the features of beauty and the nature of the Trinity. In light of this fit and the sources of traditional thought above, beauty is best thought of as the gravitas amoris—the weighty impression of God’s triune love in created things that draws one into the triune life and is experienced as delight when perceived. I conclude by answering objections and reflecting on how this account reframes the transcendentals and coordinates the experience of beauty with Christian love.

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Plotinus on Beauty

Abstract: Koninklijke Brill nv reserves the right to protect this publication against unauthorized use. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

Cited by 3 publications

References 20 publications

The Stoic Conception of Bodily Beauty as Symmetry

The Stoic Conception of Bodily Beauty as Symmetry

Schönheit, Kunst

Beauty Is the Gravitas Amoris: A Trinitarian Correlation of Beauty and Love

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