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Concepts of Beauty contrasting Plato and Nietzsche.

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What is beauty? When one examines this question from the alternate view points of a spectator versus a producer of art, one arrives at distinct answers. How does examining the contrasting approach of Plato and Nietzsche in regards to concepts of beauty illustrate a historical shift within both philosophy as well as art?

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Solution Summary

The goal of this solution is to offer several examples from art and philosophy worth exploring further in an effort to expand a dialectic regarding the nature of beauty as well as paradigm shifts within art and philosophy.

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For Plato, true beauty is unattainable. Our experience of the beautiful is merely an approximation of its form. From this standpoint, the artist's goal is to deliver the best possible representation of what might approach this ideal. For example, when appraising a Greek sculpture, one might discuss the degree to which the sculptor captures a representation of an exemplary specimen. If one considers the work Laocoon in this light, one would discuss the overall form of the subject and if it is indeed pleasing to the eye. It is worth mentioning that this approach ...

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