Thanks for being this considerate and for your recommendation, I'll be getting that book. I'm a Catholic and a Classical Theist. Modern theists, for the most part, seem to think that mystery of consciousness is key to God, I feel somewhat the same when it comes to Beauty. Whether I'm right or wrong, is a totally different matter which concerns rigoros investigations. Whether beauty should  be recognized purely as a theological category? Whether it is to be looked at from a more natural perspective? Whether it has something to do with personal tastes, in such fashion that there is no dispute? Is it a psychological account of perception that is dependent on certain things, platitudes, etc.? Is it a universal? Is it possible to properly predicate beauty to anything? Such questions come to mind when I think of beauty. There is an obvious attraction and inclination to beauty, for most people at least. I want to know the full cause, it's nature, and it's being, so, whatever the conclusion, I'm interested in the investigations leading to it. And I don't think that my spirit is going to let me rest at ease until and unless it is satisfied. So, thanks for the recommendation.

I suspect that Roger Scruton's books might be a good place to start. He has two or three that discuss what beauty is and why it's important. And he's got a solid background in serious philosophy.

If his books don't address exactly what you're after, there's a good chance they'll point you to proper sources.

Also Umberto Eco's early book "Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages" was helpful for me. Mostly he gleans the various things that Aquinas has to say about aesthetics and puts them together for us.

And, you probably know this already, but Plato's Symposium and its many commentaries are kind of indispensable.

Roger Scruton is a good recommendation, even though (in my opinion) he doesn't explain or clarify the fundamentals. He delivers well from his own point of view though. Here's a documentary by him https://vimeo.com/112655231

Thanks for the recommendations John. Eric from Feser's blog, right? Nice to see that you're still active, with that said, Eric & seignur, thanks for recommending Umberto Eco and Scruton to me, I've purchased Roger Scruton's, Beauty: A Very Short Introduction, I was already aware of Scruton and have seen the video you refer to, seignur, but I'm only beginning to take interest in him now. I'll be getting 3 more books by monday,

Philosophies of Art and Beauty: Selected readings in Aesthetics from Plato to Heidegger
Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages

Now, Daniel, thank you for the article and making me aware of Roman Ingarden. The article you've posted is exactly what I've been looking at and been in wonderment of, I'm glad that you and other people have their interests piqued in this area of argument for God's existence, which is one of my main motivations to discover the mystery that surrounds the very nature of beauty. I'll be finishing the two books above before I hit Roman Ingarden's work and then move to David Bentley Hart while I'm reading him as well as my other usual metaphysical interests. I cannot believe how close to home the article you sent hit, I never knew that Peter S. Williams was interested in this sort of thing, but I'm happy to know that he is.

"If one accepts that naturalism involves a denial of the `mannishness of man' then one ought to look favorably upon theism as a world-view capable of giving art, and aesthetic appreciation in general, a welcoming home. [65]"

This is one of the main reasons for me in accepting theism over any form of naturalism, prior to getting to know Aristotle and Aquinas and the other Scholastics.

"I suggest that the four categories of aesthetic arguments for the existence of God deserve greater attention than has traditionally been the case. Secular philosophers, like Anthony O'Hear and Roger Scruton, recognize that aesthetics lends itself to religious treatment, and it is noteable how strong a pull towards God they feel when considering aesthetic phenomena."

This is something I hope that in the course of my exploration, I be able to find. The adequate bridge and arguments that lead to the existence of God, starting from aesthetic phenomena. This was a truly refreshing article, and it really has almost all the reasons I can think of, in towards my inclination to the Philosophy of Beauty, I'll see if I can write more about things as I progress, it would be very interesting to see how specific ontology of aesthetics would deal with experiences of disgust as well.

Very quickly, the book recommended by John West, Philosophies of Art and Beauty: Selected Readings in Aesthetics from Plato to Heidegger, is available for less than $3 for kindle, for anyone else interested, this should be a welcome steal, as was for me.

Eric in Hiroshima wrote:

There are two important results from the fact that each object and each perceiver in the world is slightly different: 1) each object reflects or embodies a different aspect and portion of goodness, and 2) each perceiver is sensitive to and affected by a different portion of goodness. Some of us are affected by the beauty of art or the different beauty of music. Some are indifferent to art but attracted more naturally to, say, mercy or justice. Famously, Beatrice had exactly the combination of virtues that appealed to Dante. It was through her goodness that he had inklings of God's goodness.

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Yes, that much is pretty clear. I've more questions on this, more specifically how we can objectively predicate more or less beauty to someone or something, there should be some real concord for doing this. Those two points you mention raise a few more questions, can beauty be exhausted? If so, how, and why? I think the answer has to do with the notion of possession tied in with the fact that beauty is never wholly possessed by someone or something, another important point is the affection of the senses that invoke desire, I wonder why this has to be, if beauty really is an objective trait that can be objectively predicated to something(i.e. to say that we can say this is more beautiful than that). Needless to say, I'm so happy with the replies here and excited to read all the material that has been recommended.