Philosophical Writings

Author(s): Hemant Shah
Publisher: Academy of Philosophy

Page 91

Philosophical Writings
of Beauty. In the Roamtic age we have William Blake, Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats - all poets who offered their original contribution. Keats, amongst these, known for his famous lines, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty" gave a new trinity Beauty, Truth and Power for Truth, Beauty and Goodness of Indian aesthetics. 2.5.4. Kant; German Idealist :
Kant was the first modern philosopher to make his aesthetic theory an integral part of Philosophy. Kant says that in actual experience of Beauty, inner verbalization stops. There are two types of verbalization : (i) with other than myself, and (2) with myself known as thinking. Suffering is due to verbalization. When you experience Beauty you stop talking to yourself. You become silant. “Beauty creates inner silence; where there is silence of thought joy arises. Beauty creates joy by silencing thought. Sundaram (Beauty) creates Ananada (Joy).
Beauty is experienced, never known. Beauty is not a matter of cognition. It is a matter of feeling (Experience). Feeling is no cognition. Beauty is an aspect of God, and so God also can not be cognised. Beauty, like God can be felt, can be experienced. According to Kant, the location of Beauty is the feelings. The location of Beauty is not in the mind but in the eyes. Kant says, beauty is the road to heaven where there is no suffering. There is no aging, age does not come in the way - in experiencing Beauty. The pleasure derived from the object of beauty is universal and is free from concept.
Kant suggests two categories of beauty: free beauty and dependent beauty. The first one is free from the concept, while in case of the dependent beauty we have pre-determined concepts. Kant's free beauty is the ideal beauty.
Kant says that Beauty drives to action. Beauty is the causal form of God. We can never experience absolute Beauty. We can experience Beauty in a finite object. Experience of finite is also finite. When the experience ends, desire begins - desire to experience again.