The Ontological Basis Of Plato's Thought In Esthetics

When the western aesthetics developed to Socrates, it has explored the realization of beauty,society'function,etc,and the objective and subjective theory was also controversial. Plato's aesthetics is a continuation and upgrading of aesthetics theory of his previous theory,building up the relativly complete aesthetic in the history of the aesthetic the first time.Compared with the prior aesthetics, the biggst feature of Plato's aesthetic is its distinctive ontology thinking.As Plato's ontology, ideology is through the whole Plato's thought and has impact on his aesthetics.Be the same with the continent depth of his ideology Plato's aesthetics ideology is not fixed and was corrected continuely. Through the expositions of Plato's ideological concepts and aesthetics thought,this paper want to reflect their internal connections.And make a comparition with his preliminary and late aesthetics to find out the value.Based on the previous art work and philosphy thought of ancient Greek,Plato put the two fundamental questions of aesthetics conclusively: the relationship between art and the real world and the social functions of the arts community.And his aesthetics though also focused on this two issues.The preliminary ideology separates the concept of the ideal world and the sense world and highlightens the thought that the idea is the whole world's essense . In aesthetics,Plato put the thought about the union of the truth,goodness and beauty,and divide the art world,real world and the world of ideas.He the art world should imitate the ideological world and the latter is the highest ideal. Because the preliminary ideology separates the ideal world and the objective world,the theory contradictions of his ontology is also reflected in the aesthetics and some aesthetics perspectives don't achieve the reunification.To the relationship between the art and the real world,Plato makes different ways in the realization of the aesthetics (beauty).In Symposium,he thinks that aesthetics can increas from the sentimental things to ideal.But in Republic , he emphasized the separation between the ideal and the sentimental world,and thinks that the ideal world is a world of super-sentimental.He rejects the concept that the ideal world,the real world and the art world can be connected.This leads to the contradictory aesthetics (beauty) way. From the point of the sepatation of the two worlds,the poets are divided into two categories by Plato:the first poets'aesthetic objects is ideal and the second ones'is the sentimental things. Plato believes that the first ones have the real beauty of poetry,but the second type of potery is simply to imitate the real world,seperated from the truth and can't show the real beauty. For the former poet's literary talents,Plato uses the inspiration to explain the mysterious,which is different from the latter who is with artistry poems. Intend to defend his Republic , Plato thinks the art's social function is to serve the politics,and insists that the arts must be usful to the human and serve the politics.He stresses the social sermons of the literary and artistic works,and the political criteria to the art.Plato's thinking is critical developing,his later"communion of kinds"realize the link of the ideal,and his aesthetics thought is also changed is this time.In Timaeus,Plato links up the ideal and sentimental world through the creation ot the universe,however their separation in theoretical logic. Although it doesn't mention the aesthetics,but the two worlds is theoretically two-phase separation,which shows that Plato still insists the thought of the union of the truth,goodness and beauty,,and the inspiration. But the failure of his late political practices changes his understand of Republic,and also leads him to re—examine the literary aesthetics. In Laws,Plato makes many laws to his aesthetics, no longer insists on a wholesale reputation of art,but changes to analysis attitude,a dmits aesthetic pleasure and affirms the art work conditionlly.However, in Laws, Plato still emphasizes the artistc creation should be bound by the lagal means, and the review of the literary and artistic works, which is to ensure that these woroks paly a good civilizational role.Then the essense of his aesthtics doesn't change at all.Plato's insists on the thought of the union of the truth,goodness and beauty, detrmines the objective aesthetics'dominant position in the aesthtics history of several thousand years.Plato's aesthetics is based on his ideology,and so has it the tendency of idealism ,which has an impact on the development of the subseuent romantic aesthetics.But soom there is criticism of his aesthetics.Through the opposite views of Plato's two aesthetics questions,Aristotle put his own aesthetics which is diametrically opposite to Plato's.Plato and Aristotle's aesthetic concepts laid the foundation of the European art thinking,which affect the later idealism and materialism aesthtics separately.All the later aesthetics'beginning lie in concluding and solving Plato's aesthetics creatively.