Beauty in The Universal Encyclopedia of Philosophy

The author considers the problem of beauty. He identifies beauty as an analogically understood property of reality, of human products (including art), and of the human mode of conduct, and as that which, in the tradition of Western culture, is expressed under the form of harmony, perfection, or splendor, which as beheld and for beholding arouses complacency or pleasure. The article discusses the following topics: classical theories of beauty, beauty in the metaphysical conception, beauty in aesthetics, the separation of beauty from reality, and the problem of ugliness.