The Meaning of 'Beauty' and Its Transcendental Status in the Metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas

This dissertation investigates whether "beauty" is a transcendental in the metaphysics of Thomas Aquinas. For Thomas, a transcendental is a term that expresses a distinct attribute of every being insofar as it exists, and which therefore reveals something unique about the nature of all reality. Hence, the question of whether beauty is a transcendental for Thomas has important implications not only for his metaphysics, but for his thought in general.;The Introduction argues that the question we are investigating actually consists of two questions, a historical one and a systematic one: "Did Thomas himself consider beauty to be a distinct transcendental?" and "Does Thomas's thought imply or entail that beauty is a distinct transcendental?" Furthermore, since beauty cannot be a distinct attribute of every being for Thomas unless it has a distinct meaning, neither question can be answered in isolation from a third question: "What is the meaning of 'beauty' in Thomas's thought?";Chapter One examines the historical question regarding beauty's transcendental status, namely whether Thomas himself considered beauty a transcendental. The chapter proceeds by extracting from his writings the characteristics that distinguish the transcendentals from all other terms, and then determining whether he attributes these marks to beauty.;Chapter Two begins our investigation of the systematic question regarding beauty's transcendental status, namely whether Thomas's metaphysics implies or entails that beauty is a transcendental. The chapter examines the attempts of certain contemporary Thomists to prove either that beauty is a transcendental or that it is not.;Our examination of the systematic question concerning beauty's transcendental status continues with an analysis of Thomas's opinions on both the subjective factors of aesthetic experience, i.e. a person's perception of and delight in beauty, and the objective factors of that experience, i.e. the ontological conditions for beauty in a being. Hence, we investigate the nature of aesthetic perception in Chapter Three, the nature of aesthetic pleasure in Chapter Four, and the nature of beauty's conditions in Chapter Five.;The sixth and final chapter uses these findings to formulate a conclusion regarding the meaning of beauty and its transcendental status in Thomas's metaphysics.