The author seeks to answer the question of whether Karol Wojtyła was a Thomist or a phenomenologist. He lists four possible answers: 1) Wojtyła was a Thomist; 2) Wojtyła was a phenomenologist; 3) Wojtyła was both a Thomist and a phenomenologist, meaning one with an inclination toward both Thomism and phenomenology; and 4) Wojtyła was none of them, meaning one who sought to go beyond both Thomism and phenomenology. In order to determine which of these responses is most adequate, the author not only analyzes Wojtyła’s most important works, but also takes into account their publishers and dates of publication. He concludes that 1) Wojtyła was a philosopher of being, who was able to make use of the philosophy of Aristotle and of St. Thomas Aquinas along with phenomenological method, and 2) his philosophy contributed an original approach that bore fruit in a deeper understanding of man as a person.
Two books of Étienne Gilson are especially important in the area of aesthetics: Painting and Reality and The Arts of the Beautiful. In my essay I discuss Gilson’s idea of beauty and his idea of art. To some degree, É. Gilson follows traditional Thomistic point of view, i.e., he claims that the beautiful is that which pleases when seen, or that which consists of integrity, proportion and clarity. He gives, however, a new interpretation of clarity which, for him, means not only physical lucidity, but also a metaphysical radiation and spiritualization of what is material. As for art, É. Gilson is of an opinion that it enjoys a strong metaphysical status, since the existence of the work of art comes from the artist himself. Finally, I explain why É. Gilson’s views are open to further discussion, both metaphysical and theological.
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.
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