Beauty, Eros and Truth: Reconsidering Plato’s Aesthetic Thought
Beauty, Eros and Truth: Reconsidering Plato’s Aesthetic Thought

Summary/Abstract: This article examines Plato's understanding of beauty through a close reading of three fundamental dialogues: Hippias Major, Symposium, and Phaedrus. Rather than approaching beauty as an aesthetic category in the modern sense, Plato presents it as a philosophical reality intimately connected with truth, eros, and the structure of being. The study analyzes the progressive development of the Platonic conception of beauty, beginning with the aporetic search for its definition in Hippias Major, continuing with the ascent of eros toward the intelligible realm in the Symposium, and culminating in the account of beauty as a privileged manifestation of truth in the Phaedrus. Particular attention is given to the notions of anamnesis, divine madness, and contemplation as fundamental dimensions of aesthetic experience. The article also places Plato's thought in dialogue with modern and contemporary aesthetics, focusing on Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Deleuze. It argues that Platonic beauty cannot be reduced to subjective taste or artistic representation but remains a philosophical path toward truth and self-transformation. The continuing relevance of Plato's reflections lies in their capacity to reconnect aesthetics with ontology, ethics, and the question of meaning.

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