Book Title: Philosophical Writings
Author(s): Hemant Shah
Publisher: Academy of Philosophy

Previous | Next

Page 107
________________ 88 is inherent in, or dependent on, the object of aesthetic experience; a few even maintain that "Beauty" has transcendent existence in which it coincides with the true and the Good. Philosophical Writings The search for Beauty in physics is one of the significant features of the growing interest in modem physics. "A small group of contemporary physicists, the intellectual descendants of Einstein, have extended the forest of the night in search of the fundamental design of Nature. They focus on Symmentry as the unifying aesthetic view point through which fundamental physicists look at Nature. Prof. A Zee, one of the intellectual descendent of A. Einstein says" "But, in fact, aesthetics has become a driving force in contemporary physics. Nature, at the fundamental level, is beautifully designed. Let us worry about beauty first and truth will take care of itself." An Indian aesthetician Rupa Goswami compares Beauty with "the unlocalised shadowy something of the pearl visible in a body. We perceive it but cannot name it." Abhinavagupta described Beauty as, "the delight which is born with the cessation of thirst."2 J.Krishnamurti says, "there is a beauty which offers no stimulation... one comes upon that beauty not by desiring, longig for experience, but only when all desire for experience has come to an end."3 We should note that modern aesthetics begins with A. G. Baumgarten (1714-1762) who first used the word aesthetics. He defines beauty as the end of all sensuous knowledge. In other words, logical reasoning and aesthetic perception differ not in the end, but in the means, of recognising the true and the good. The 18th and 19th centuries were ruled by this concept. Modern aesthetic begins with the concept of beauty in Nature and all of life. The Term: The term "Beauty" is loaded with connotations. Beauty means something that pleases through senses. Beauty like Truth and Goodness, is a divine attribute and in its absolute state it co-exists with others. In Indian Philosophy the word "Sundar" (Beauty) means that which wets our heart with pleasure. It is an abstract quality in Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194