This paper pursues the philosophical significance of a relatively
unexplored point of Platonic aesthetics: the social dimension of beauty.
The social dimension of beauty resides in its conceptual connection to
shame and honour. This dimension of beauty is fundamental to the aesthetic
education of the Republic, as becoming virtuous for Plato presupposes
a desire to appear and to be admired as beautiful. The ethical significance
of beauty, shame, and honour redound to an ethically rich notion
of appearing before others which corresponds to a public conception of
virtue. I suggest how this dimension of beauty in Plato – particularly the
emphasis on beautification – proves fruitful for reconsidering the scope
and the nature of aesthetic experience
