Beauty as a Moral and Philosophical Category in the Worldview of Oscar Wilde

Abstract

The article examines the problem of beauty as a moral and philosophical category in the worldview of Oscar Wilde. It analyses the specifics of the writer's aesthetic concept, formed within the aestheticism of the late nineteenth century, and its connection with ethical ideas of good, evil and personal responsibility. Special attention is paid to the rethinking of the traditional understanding of beauty: in Wilde's work it appears not only as an external aesthetic value but also as a complex spiritual phenomenon capable both of elevating a person and of leading to moral degradation. On the basis of his works, including the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, the contradictory nature of the author's position is revealed, expressed in the tension between the cult of art and the awareness of the moral consequences of aesthetic hedonism. The article reveals the symbolic meaning of beauty as a category reflecting the inner state of a personality and its spiritual choice. It is concluded that in Wilde's worldview beauty acquires a dual nature, acting both as an ideal and as a trial for a person, which makes it possible to regard it as a key to interpreting his artistic legacy.