Ontological foundations of aesthetic development in the philosophy of antiquity

The paper is aimed at identifying the ontological foundations of the aesthetic on the basis of a philosophical analysis of the ideas of ancient thinkers. The correlation of the aesthetic, ontological and epistemo-logical aspects with the cosmological viewpoints of ancient philosophers is shown. It is argued that the aesthetic evolution of the entity in the context of the philosophy of Antiquity implies a path of human self-improvement through being, corresponding to the principle of kalokagathia. It is the condition, process and result of the self-organization and self-transformation of the individual, in which self-knowledge leads to a metaphysical discovery of the soul, the beauty of being and one's own life. The interpenetration of aesthetic, ethical and epistemological principles of being is a characteristic feature of the ontologism of the ancient worldview. The desire to develop an aesthetic sense is ontological, since it implies a movement towards beauty, perfection. Beauty is revealed only to the sublime and purified soul, aesthetically contemplated in its objective existence. The soul reveals itself in an aesthetic form of expression in which its inner meaning of life is displayed.