Truth, Beauty, Purity, and Pleasure

Abstract

At Philebus 50e–53c Socrates outlines a class of true and pure pleasures, principally by reference to certain particular perceptual objects that are beautiful kath’ hauta. He considers the nature of the perceived object as an important determinant of the nature of the pleasure, specifying that pure and true pleasures derive from “beautiful” colors, shapes, sounds, and smells (51b3) and then offering what he acknowledges is an unorthodox account of the criteria by which shapes and sounds should be considered beautiful (51b9–e6). Chapter 11 suggests that these objects, while pure and simple, nevertheless can be said to display a kind of symmetria and therefore conform to Socrates’ claims about beauty elsewhere in the dialogue, particularly his claims about music. It also considers the pure and true pleasures of mathēmata introduced at 51e7–52b9.