"It all begins at home, with how you live: the way you dress, the books you read, the music you listen to." Amen--thank you, Evan, for another inspiring article!
"While it is true that personal aesthetic preferences exist, it also appears that there is a universal ideal of Beauty that we can all access and appeal to. After all, if Beauty did not exist, our aesthetic preferences would be meaningless."
"our disagreements over Truth, Goodness, and Beauty seem to indicate more about ourselves as subjects and our perceptions and desires, rather than Truth, Goodness, and Beauty themselves."
"man’s first religious impulse can be said to be the Pursuit of the Transcendentals, and Religion itself could be defined as The Investigation of the Transcendent. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness draw us out of ourselves and lift us towards something higher, something overarching that transcends our subjective experience – which is why we call them The Transcendentals."
"Christianity is Beautiful, therefore Christianity is True"
I have always felt that todays cities and the houses they are building are suppressing the spirits and always felt admirations for real and beautiful works of architecture. This article resonated deeply with those observations. My heart bleeds as it is one more proof for me that right now our culture (writing from Germany) died and thats also why so many people are depressed.
I will always chase truth, goodness and beauty, also in this dark times.
I had a really interesting conversation a few years ago with a work colleague that I will never forget about how in a few hundred years from now, antiques will become flat pack and flimsy ikea furniture. Reading your comment reminded me of that conversation…
What makes beauty so elusive is that it’s never just essence, and never just ornament.
It's in the balance between them.
Ornaments can either draw our eyes toward the essence of what a thing is, or it can mask it. Beauty arises when the ornament knows its place and serves the essence.
Byzantine mosaics or Gothic vaults adorn, but always in service of the essence (in this instance, the church and its purpose).
The right amount and type of make-up enhances the best features. But too much make-up hides and becomes a mask. In the same way the right amount and type of poetry enhances the best features of a story. But too much poetic language hides and veils the true story. Hence why Plato was afraid of letting poets into his imagined perfect city.
Beauty’s task is to show us reality more intensely. But in doing so it risks hiding it.
So very eloquent and well examined of the topic. I've thought deeply about this over the past few years - and although less well-written, I tried to capture some thoughts to dwell on this topic as well:
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember an instance where, in Athens, a woman had been accused of a crime. her solicitor asked her to disrobe. Upon seeing her perfect body, she was considered innocent, since such great beauty could not be evil.
Very inspiring! Life feels so much better when we surround ourselves with beauty.
"It all begins at home, with how you live: the way you dress, the books you read, the music you listen to." Amen--thank you, Evan, for another inspiring article!
Another good article addressing the subjective vs. objective elements of Beauty, and its importance as one of the Transcendentals. I have some similar takes that may be of interest in "The Transcendental Argument for Christianity" - https://open.substack.com/pub/christendomcoalition/p/the-transcendental-argument-for-christianity?r=2efta9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Some on-point excerpts:
"While it is true that personal aesthetic preferences exist, it also appears that there is a universal ideal of Beauty that we can all access and appeal to. After all, if Beauty did not exist, our aesthetic preferences would be meaningless."
"our disagreements over Truth, Goodness, and Beauty seem to indicate more about ourselves as subjects and our perceptions and desires, rather than Truth, Goodness, and Beauty themselves."
"man’s first religious impulse can be said to be the Pursuit of the Transcendentals, and Religion itself could be defined as The Investigation of the Transcendent. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness draw us out of ourselves and lift us towards something higher, something overarching that transcends our subjective experience – which is why we call them The Transcendentals."
"Christianity is Beautiful, therefore Christianity is True"
I have always felt that todays cities and the houses they are building are suppressing the spirits and always felt admirations for real and beautiful works of architecture. This article resonated deeply with those observations. My heart bleeds as it is one more proof for me that right now our culture (writing from Germany) died and thats also why so many people are depressed.
I will always chase truth, goodness and beauty, also in this dark times.
I had a really interesting conversation a few years ago with a work colleague that I will never forget about how in a few hundred years from now, antiques will become flat pack and flimsy ikea furniture. Reading your comment reminded me of that conversation…
Yes yes yes!
Thank you for this very well-researched and written article! An enjoyable and insightful read for a Wednesday.❤️
Great read. I believe that Chinese culture must be mentioned, as it is one of the oldest cultures that is still thriving in many ways.
Interesting connections.
What makes beauty so elusive is that it’s never just essence, and never just ornament.
It's in the balance between them.
Ornaments can either draw our eyes toward the essence of what a thing is, or it can mask it. Beauty arises when the ornament knows its place and serves the essence.
Byzantine mosaics or Gothic vaults adorn, but always in service of the essence (in this instance, the church and its purpose).
The right amount and type of make-up enhances the best features. But too much make-up hides and becomes a mask. In the same way the right amount and type of poetry enhances the best features of a story. But too much poetic language hides and veils the true story. Hence why Plato was afraid of letting poets into his imagined perfect city.
Beauty’s task is to show us reality more intensely. But in doing so it risks hiding it.
This is such a great piece on Beauty.
So very eloquent and well examined of the topic. I've thought deeply about this over the past few years - and although less well-written, I tried to capture some thoughts to dwell on this topic as well:
https://open.substack.com/pub/dhpeters/p/modernity-forsook-beauty-can-beauty?r=2zfcw7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
I may be wrong, but I seem to remember an instance where, in Athens, a woman had been accused of a crime. her solicitor asked her to disrobe. Upon seeing her perfect body, she was considered innocent, since such great beauty could not be evil.
Thank you.