Hi All:
Those of you who have been around for awhile on this site know my
belief in the power of beauty and my advocacy of art as a possible 5th
level in the MOQ. This morning I happened across a recent article in
the Washington Post about the revival of beauty in American culture
and learned to my surprise that there is a special show now at the Met
Museum in NY entitled "Extreme Beauty" as well as a number of books
on the subject of beauty recently or about to be published.
A seminal manifesto that helped begin the renewed interest in beauty
among the movers and shakers in academia was authored by
Frederick Turner of the University of Texas entitled "Beauty: The Value
of Values." Here is a brief excerpt:
"Beauty is not marginal and unimportant, not merely subjective, not an
effect of something else such as social power or libido, and not
idiosyncratic to the individual. It is central to all meaningful human life
and achievement, it gives access to the objective reality of the universe,
it is an independent and powerful experience in its own right, and it is
culturally universal. . . . Its absence in the family, in schools, and in
public life is a direct cause of the worst of our social problems."
The article sums up: "Beauty is now proclaimed as being at the heart
of a universal human nature -- even at the core of the order of the
universe, and the essence of life itself."
Those interested can find the Post article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30489-
2002Feb18.html
I've long suspected that beauty was "the value of values." It's nice when
you discover people agreeing with you, especially those with
credentials in the field.
If you watched the competition at the Olympics between the women
figure skaters you just knew, even if you know nothing about the finer
points of figure skating, that Sarah Hughes was the superior skater
that evening. The beauty of her performance was palpable. It is that
universal "knowing" of beauty that fascinates me. Like awareness, I
think goes deep down in the evolutionary hierarchy and carries with it
the power of creation itself.
Platt
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