Tożsamość piękna i dobra w myśli Henryka Elzenberga

Abstract

The article discusses the thoughts of Henryk Elzenberg on the nature of beauty and good as well as on their mutual relations. The definition of beauty given by the Polish philosopher points out that this notion exceeds greatly the scope of material beings. Although the perception of beauty as a process is subjective, it is inevitably associated with an act of evaluation which can be measured objectively. Furthermore, apart from performing an expressive and lyrical function, beauty itself is a perfect value, marked with its inner necessity. As a consequence, Elzenberg advances the thesis about the subjective identity of beauty and good which constitute two aspects of one perfect value, the only difference between them being of epistemological and psychological nature.