The transcendentality of beauty in Saint Thomas

Abstract

The question of the transcendentality of beauty in Saint Thomas has been widely discussed by scholars. What makes this question problematic is that Aquinas, in none of the lists where he sets out the general modes of the being, does not include the “pulchrum”. This article wants to defend the transcendence of beauty and, at the same time, justify its silence. To do this, the “pulchrum” will be located in the systematic deduction of the transcendentals and will be examined with special attention as it relates to the “verum” and to the “bonum”. This is the only way to justify its absence in the expositions of the doctrine of the general properties of the being made by Thomas Aquinas.