Plato’s Forms and the Purpose of Beauty
Hello again and happy New Year! This is Altalena and welcome back to An Aesthetic Education. In his deeply moving autobiography, The World of Yesterday, Stefan Zweig writes about the reasons why he had such a strong desire to collect original manuscripts from the likes of Goethe, Mozart, and Handel. Explaining his need to collect he says the following:
“When I began I had set out only as beginners do, to bring together names – famous names. Then, out of psychological curiosity, I had collected more and more manuscripts, original drafts or fragments of works, which also gave me insight into the creative methods of a much-loved master. The most profound and mysterious of the countless insoluble riddles of the world is surely the mystery of creation. You cannot eavesdrop on Nature here; she will not show you the final secret of how the earth was created and how a little flower grows, how a poem or a man comes into being. Pitilessly, inflexibly, Nature draws a veil over that last secret. Even the poets and musicians cannot account for the moment of inspiration in retrospect. Once the act of creation is complete, the creative artist does not know where it came from or how it grew to fruition. Artists can never, or almost never, explain how, in their heightened state of consciousness, words come together to from a verse, or single notes to make a melody that will echo through the centuries. Nothing can give an idea of the incomprehensible process of creation except, to some slight extent, handwritten pages, particularly those that are covered with corrections and not yet ready to go to press, and the still tentative first drafts from which the final form of a work will emerge.”
As Zweig so beautifully describes, for anyone fascinated by art and creative expression there is this underlying wish to pull back the curtain and see the creative process at its moment of highest expression. While Zweig is correct that we will never really be able to know or see that creative spark fully, we can at least begin to understand some of the elements that help form our recognition and understanding of what is creative, beautiful, and meaningful. So, let’s begin at the beginning of aesthetic philosophy, with the work of the Greek philosopher Plato and how his theory of forms served as a foundation for all future aesthetic thinking.
Interlude
A short disclaimer – formalized aesthetics as an area of philosophical study only came into existence many centuries after Plato and his works. While Plato serves as a foundational piece within the field of aesthetics, our understanding and interpretation of his philosophical theories are inherently influenced by future philosophical developments. I believe that it is always important to remember the context of the time period in which any work was written. I encourage all our listeners to take a look through the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, where much of my research was done, for further information on Plato, his life, and his works all within the greater context of the philosophy of Ancient Greece.
Interlude
The basis for much of Plato’s work relating to aesthetics comes from the appropriately named Theory of Forms, which he developed over the course of many of his famous writings. Within this theory, Plato lays out an understanding of how we perceive the world around us and internalize much of those experiences. He puts forward the notion that the physical world is not as authentic or true as “Forms” are. The term “Forms” is commonly translated as ideas – meaning those timeless things of essence, which physical matter is merely an imitation of. They are an esoteric concept as Plato’s explanation of how they develop and function changes throughout his works. An understanding of his view on forms can be explained as follows: Forms are ideas of value and give meaning to the world as we experience them. They are absolutes and therefore exist not within time, but instead provides the basis for time itself. Forms are supposed to be a blueprint for perfection. They are the essence of what we are trying to achieve yet knowing that we will never achieve it perfectly. For example, one could draw a circle on a piece of paper. To the eye, this might be a perfect circle with no deviations or perceived imperfections. But in a typical philosophical way, it is far from perfect. That’s because the appearance of the circle on the piece of paper is simply an example of a circle through the way that we perceive its form. The true form and essence of the circle is still out of reach and cannot be invented in the abstract, rather it must be discovered by grappling with the idea itself. Therefore, it is only through our ability to recognize and connect the image with the “idea” of the perfect circle that we are able to develop some understanding of its true form as being perfect and unchanging.
This might seem like a whole a bunch of nonsense, but the point Plato is trying to make is that we are always farther away from the actual idea or form than we may realize. The power of this comes in the recognition that the idea of a perfect circle can come through discussion, writing, or drawing. But no matter what words we use or how well we draw, the circle will never be perfect. Yet, each time that we work on the idea of the perfect circle, we take one step closer to discovering it’s essence. The Theory of Forms is in many ways an educational theory, sending us down a path of discovery and learning and providing a context to grapple with abstract concepts, such as art and beauty.
Interlude
Beauty as an overarching term is a complex word to define, especially within the context of Plato’s writings. The Greek adjective Kalon is only an approximation for the English word beauty. A slightly more accurate translation would be the word “fine”, i.e. it is a fine object. Therefore, not everything that Plato discusses in relation to Kalon has a place within the philosophical framework of aesthetics.
When discussing the forms of beauty and art it is important to note that poetry, specifically dramatic poetry, was the main form of artistic expression that Plato was making reference to. While he does deal with the visual arts, they are very much a secondary concern. The importance of poetry as the highest form of artistic expression at the time can of course be best described by a poet, in this case Simonides, who said: “Painting is silent poetry and poetry is painting that speaks.” This doesn’t mean that Plato is not critical of poetry as an artistic form, in fact what you will begin to understand quickly about much of Plato’s philosophy is just how critical he can be on so many things. The issue with poetry is that the beauty found in it can be deceptive. It’s the language used in a poem that creates the sense of beauty, remove it and the effect would disappear. Plato, always searching for those absolute forms, doesn’t find satisfaction in a beauty that is simply a veneer and one that could disappear as the meaning of the words change with the passage of time.
Interlude
As a Platonic Form, beauty has a close relationship to the good. Meaning it has a higher status than Plato’s other forms. For Plato the purpose and power of beauty is something that is both foundational and aspirational in terms of providing an understanding to life and existence. We all seek to appreciate and understand beautiful things, but our understanding will never be complete and there is always more to learn. Plato’s discussion of beauty is often done from a distance in regard to art. He is not discussing specific ideas and examples, instead choosing to focus on the overarching principles of beauty and its form. Due to beauty’s close association with good virtues, Plato, partially quoting Socrates, states that cultivating a love and appreciation of beauty through art is of significant philosophical and educational value. To be able to see gracefulness in paintings and other visual arts brings an individual closer to virtues of goodness, so long as they are willing to learn the necessary philosophies required to perceive those forms. That’s why out of all the forms that Plato discusses, beauty is the one mentioned most often.
The form of beauty is one that allows for philosophers to discover the essence of an experience. Where they consummate their deepest love, while also attaining the loftiest of knowledge. Beautiful things remind souls of their mystery as no other visible objects can. It’s that spark of curiosity that strikes everyone in some form when they see something truly beautiful. As both a Form and a sensory experience, beauty promises to be a more effective tool of reflection and learning than anything else. The balance that must be struck when learning from beauty is not lose one’s focus in the search to gain some sense of perfection. Art according to Plato must not distract the mind from the form and essence of true beauty. That is the singular danger of poetry and paintings, their ability to divert one’s attention away from the true pedagogical influence of beauty.
Of course, this is what a philosopher would be worrying about. Distraction. Fortunately, it’s not something to think about every second of every day. The importance of Plato’s theory of forms is that it provides a template of learning that gives each and every one of us the ability to pursue a journey of appreciation of those sparks of creative beauty.
As John Keats so eloquently put it in his poem Ode on a Grecian Urn: “‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty, - that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
