Imagining Divine Beauty: Augustine on Phantasma , Lamentation and Expectation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wook Joo Park
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
pp. 001458582110225
Author(s):  
Thomas E Peterson

A central question facing the reader of the Paradiso terrestre (Pg 28–33) concerns the selfhood of the protagonist, the character Dante. While the state of Dante’s soul was critical to the poem’s beginning in the dark wood, and remained implicit through the intervening cantos, it is only in the Paradiso terrestre that it becomes the poem’s central focus. This question is explored in cognitive and theological terms in a sequential reading of the six cantos that elucidates the learning process occurring in the character before and after his confession in Pg 31: in his encounter with Matelda, his sensory and perceptual experience of the procession, his dialogues with Beatrice, and his witnessing of her divine beauty as the analogia entis reflecting the beauty of God. The analysis acknowledges the changes in Dante’s style in this interval, which serves as a fulcrum of the entire Commedia, a spatio-temporal threshold in which the transition of one soul, from confession to redemption to instruction on the divine word, is linked to the destiny of humankind and the prospect of universal salvation. Throughout this process of becoming, the character’s cognitive limitations are exposed, not simply as flaws but as signs of his intrinsic humanity.


1951 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Owen Aldridge

Although traditionally regarded as an austere clergyman, rigidly circumscribed by narrow doctrinalism, Jonathan Edwards has the distinction of being America's pioneer esthetician. In a Dissertation concerning the Nature of True Virtue he brings together nearly all the theories prevalent in the early eighteenth century concerning the relation of beauty to virtue, and discusses the moral aspects of human passions and conduct. Francis Hutcheson is the philosopher whose influence is most pronounced. In the Dissertation he is mentioned by name three times; the general plan of his theory of moral sense is constantly suggested for comparison, contrast or illustration; fundamental doctrines and corollary principles from his system are specifically stated and attacked; and others of his notions are cited in support of Edwards' own views. It has long been known that Edwards read Hutcheson's work, but the close parallels in his own treatise, making it literally a commentary on Hutcheson, have not been generally recognized. Evidence of the extent of Hutcheson's influence may be found by comparing Edwards' dissertation with his earlier work on The Mind, a discussion of the essence of beauty or harmony in the realms of spirit and of sense. Written while its author was engaged in studying Locke, the discussion contains nearly all of Edwards' original ideas on natural and divine beauty. In the expanded and polished treatise some of the original ideas are modified as a direct result of Hutcheson's concepts, and a complete ethical and aesthetic system is developed to supplant the systems of Hutcheson and other moralists popular at the time.


2013 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
William T. Barnett

AbstractHans Urs von Balthasar claimed that Barth's Church Dogmatics demonstrates a weakening of his distinctive actualism in order to make space for ‘the concept of authentic objective form’, a point illustrated by the discourse on divine beauty in CD II/1. There Barth treats the divine being as an objective form to be contemplated, a seeming departure from Barth's privileged conceptualisation of God as personal subject whose free action humbles our theoretical gaze and graciously provides the material content for proper speech about God. Bruce McCormack has challenged von Balthasar's general thesis, arguing that no weakening has in fact taken place in the Church Dogmatics. If this is the case, what then of Barth's discourse on divine beauty? Is it consistent with his actualistic doctrine of God? Is it possible to speak of God both as a free, dynamic event and an object of beauty? Can theological aesthetics find a home within Barth's actualism? This article answers in the affirmative by demonstrating the systematic integrity between Barth's claims about divine beauty and the actualism permeating CD II/1. First, the article examines the ambiguity of Barth's specific claims about divine beauty. Barth is both enthusiastic and hesitant in speaking about divine beauty, affirming the concept yet placing careful qualifications on its use. Next, the article illustrates how the nature of these claims is anticipated by the actualism of CD II/1, specifically by (1) Barth's clear rejection of divine formlessness, (2) his argument that God's act of self-revelation in Jesus Christ implies an objective triune form for God's being and, lastly, (3) how he grounds discourse on divine beauty in the event of God's dynamic, free love. The article finally contends that the key to Barth's puzzling position on divine beauty is in understanding the precise reason why he registers beauty as a necessary but insufficient theological concept. This qualification is rooted in an important content–form, spirit–nature distinction which frames all discussion about God's being-in-act. Throughout CD II/1, objective form is a necessary condition for divine self-expression, but objectivity is always grounded in the freedom of the Spirit. Thus, the freedom-to-love at the heart of God's triune existence is the ground of our experience of God as beautiful, not any continuity with our contemplation of created forms. As such, the creative freedom animating God's triune life provides the space for, but also the limit to, theological aesthetics by imbuing divine beauty in mystery.


2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-143
Author(s):  
Timothy Menta ◽  
Keyword(s):  

Topoi ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 657-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Baddorf

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Foltz

AbstractRooted in a tradition of thought and spirituality akin to, yet other than, the onto-theology of the Latin West, the aesthetico-theological experience of the Byzantine icon can help articulate aesthetic and numinous elements of our relation to nature that environmental philosophy should no longer ignore. In contrast to the technical mastery of the natural in Western art inaugurated by the Renaissance, itself related to the emerged technological mastery of nature in the late Middle Ages, the iconic sensibility characteristic of the Byzantine East exhibits an experience of materiality common to non-Western humanity, seeing nature as a visible window to the invinsible, a lintel of the holy. A series of correlations between features of iconic seeing and exemplary encounters with the natural environment by prominent naturalists elaborates this thesis, along with examples from the later writings of Dostoevsky, who looked to divine beauty to save the earth.


Author(s):  
Anisa Hikmah Suryandari

This study discusses beauty discourse in the era of Romanticism. Beauty discourse was produced through Byron poems from 1813-1815. Byron was one of the leading figures in the Romantic movement who was influential at the time. We use three Byron poems as the main data for this study. These poems are She Walks in Beauty (1814), Sonnet to Genevra (1813), and Stanzas for Music (1815). The concept of beauty produced by the three poems above connects physical beauty and intellectual beauty with natural elements as one of the great themes of the Romanticism era. The concept of beauty at that time was closely related to the romantic society of England. Referring to this reason, Stuart Hall's representation theory and discursive approach by Michel Foucault are used as a tool to analyze the above problems. The results of this study indicate that the concept of beauty in the romantic era (1) emphasizes intellectual beauty or beyond the physical itself as a concept of beauty in that era. In addition, three concepts of beauty, physical beauty, intellectual beauty, and natural beauty will always lead to divine beauty, where all life comes from Him, and (2) The three poems make beauty an instrument to criticize the presence of the industrial revolution at that time which is considered to cause chaos in romantic life.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 890-899
Author(s):  
Fadlil Munawwar Manshur

Purpose: The formal objective of this study is to explore the beauty and ugliness contained within the poetry collection Maulīd Al-Diba'i, an Arabic-language text that conveys messages of beauty and ugliness in its verses. The material of this study is the poetry collection Maulīd Al-Diba'i, which was written by Imam Wajihuddin 'Abdur Rahman bin Muhammad bin 'Umar bin 'Ali bin Yusuf bin Ahmad bin 'Umar ad-Diba'ieasy-Syaibani al-Yamani az-Zabidiasy-Syafi'i (henceforth Abdur Rahman Al-Diba'i). Methodology: The current research is descriptive that explains the crux of poetry. For this purpose the poetry collection Maulīd Al-Diba' I was used and analysed. To achieve the objective analytical method was used. .Main Findings: Based on the analysis, it may be concluded that the poetry collection Maulīd Al-Diba'i is a work of Arabic-language Islamic literature that was influenced by the verses of the Qur'an and their beauty. The verses of Maulīd Al-Diba'i are conveyed through the language of prayers, hopes, and blessings. These prayers, hopes, and blessings contain within them their beauty, both at the surface and below it. The poet, Abdurrahman Al-Diba'i, readily conveys his prayers, hopes, and blessings by briefly retelling the story of the Prophet Muhammad's travels to spread Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula. Implications/Applications: This article applies the theory of aesthetic realism, which contains within it two key concepts: physical beauty and divine beauty. Physical beauty is related to the perceptions of the senses, and is cognitive, cultural, and natural, whereas divine beauty is perceived through the mind and promotes awareness and mental experience. Novelty/Originality of this study: This research will uncover the facts that on what basis, in the poetry collection Maulīd Al-Diba'i, is there a dominant message of beauty that is expressed explicitly and opposed with a message of ugliness that is expressed implicitly. It will also add to literature explaining that the text Maulīd Al-Diba'i may be understood as a tool for satisfying the spiritual demands of readers and enabling them to contemplate their religion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Dr. Sumit Kumari Dahiya ◽  
Ms. Harshita Chikkara

Yoga leads to right knowledge and right knowledge makes right action possible. The struggle and the victory are the hard core of poetry “Savitri”. The legend Savitri’s birth and childhood are far from conventional. Her girldhood is a wonder. She is a king’s daughter. But she masters sculpture and painting, music and architecture, dance and poetry and many other arts and crafts. She is divine and outspaces her friends. She is a divine beauty and nobody dares to claim her. She is free to choose her husband. Savitri leaves her parent’s home, her palace. She visits many places and many woods. She is attracted towards Satyawan. He tells that he is a son of king, but a king no more. Savitri becomes sure in her decision to marry Satyawan but before this, she wants to return to her parents to tell them about her choice. Inspite of being intimations of future, she is committed to her chosen path.


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