Can Thought Become Sensible? Reflections on the Aesthetic Theories of Plato and Hegel

Hegel was highly influenced by Plato’s philosophy, as appears in his Lectures on the History of Philosophy. The German philosopher rightly attributed to Plato an “aesthetic” theory meant as a search for the meaning of Beauty (the idea of the Beautiful). For Kant the Sublime played the same role that Beauty did for the Greek philosopher, leading the human soul to grasp the super-sensible, as we read in his Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Contrary to what happened in Plato, in Hegel’s own aesthetic theory, the investigation was not focused on Beauty in general, but on artistic Beauty, the characters of the beautiful work of art. If Plato and Hegel highlight the dialectical-metaphysical function of Beauty, the judgment that they express on art is very different. However, they share an important conception: Beauty is as an intermediate and connecting reality, that functions as a link between thought and sensitivity.