RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Free beauty and functional perspective in medieval aesthetics
A1 Pradier Sebastián, Adrián
K1 Aesthetics
K1 Estética
K1 Philosophy
K1 Arts - Philosophy
K1 Arte - Filosofía
K1 Arts and religion
K1 Arte y religión
K1 Aesthetics, Medieval
K1 Estética medieval
K1 Beauty
K1 Belleza
K1 72 Filosofía
K1 5101.10 Religión
AB The concept of functional beauty is characterized by including an aesthetic appreciation of objects that evaluates their efficiency in terms of satisfaction of attributions. As opposed to the concept of free beauty, which includes an appreciation of perceptual qualities for their own sake, the knowledge of functions is a necessary condition for the aesthetic experience itself. The aim of this paper is to reintegrate the medieval tension between these two conceptions, which has been surprisingly neglected in contemporary aesthetic reflection. We start from the hypothesis that the modern opposition between functional beauty and free beauty is rooted in the medieval controversies concerning the role assigned to sensitive beauty. If this is true, it would open a path of interlocution for contemporary aesthetic and theological thought that, based on Patristics, runs through the whole of the Middle Ages. We focus on three tensions which constitute three turning points: (1) the categorical distinction between beauty and appropriateness through St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) and St. Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636), who raise the question in the tradition of Latin Patristics; (2) the opposition between aesthetic judgment based on function satisfaction or one based on the free and mere appearance of the object, as can be seen in the foundational thought of St. Basil the Great (330–379), whose influence is not only extraordinary in Greek Patristics, but also in the Latin world; finally, the controversy about practical value of aesthetic attitude, through texts by Hugh of St. Victor (1096–1141), St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) and Suger of St. Denis (1081–1151). The conclusions reveal the irreducible aesthetic value of functional beauty in medieval period and the extraordinary difficulties in accommodating a free and autonomous notion of beauty, as well as the practical benefits of its everyday treatment. In fact, the consideration of a free beauty as a good in itself persists in medieval thought, which is important not only for History of Philosophy, but also for the contemporary concern shared by Philosophy of Religion and Aesthetics about the role of sensitive beauty in the life of human being.
PB MDPI
SN 2077-1444
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/63136
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/63136
LA eng
NO Religions, 2022, Vol. 13, Nº. 2, 125
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 28-nov-2024