Debating Beauty

Inside Catholic ^ | September 12, 2009 | Alice von Hildebrand

[TradicalRC]

Von Hildebrand remarks further that it's vitally important for human beings to be aware of their ontological value -- their dignity as persons made in God's image and likeness. The pantheistic view that we're but drops in an immense universe is fake humility, a subtle lack of gratitude for the fact that God -- in His infinite bounty and generosity -- has metaphysically "knighted" us.

Apart from ontological values that are more or less beautiful according to their ontological rank, von Hildebrand speaks about qualitative values, moral values, intellectual values, and aesthetical values, to mention the most important ones. These clearly differ from ontological values for the obvious reason that one can possess them more or less. Men are not equally just, or kind, or generous, or beautiful. Some are geniuses, some are intellectually talented, and some have a mediocre intelligence. Some are exceptionally handsome, some are pleasant-looking, and some have a physical appearance that only a mother's love can appreciate. Moreover, qualitative values have opposites: Moral goodness is opposed to moral evil; stupidity antagonizes intelligence; ugliness is at loggerheads with beauty. He stresses the fact that moral wickedness isn't just an absence of goodness, but, alas, a very real quality called sin, which, because of its reality, offends God. Stupidity isn't just a weak intelligence but a full-fledged negative quality. And ugliness isn't just an absence of beauty but wages war on it.

[TradicalRC]

The left has it all over us because they understand that culture matters. The right can debate endlessly on talk radio and Fox, but they MUST engage the arts. They must get better slogans, better books, better comedy, better paintings, better movies, better music, better philosophy, better documentaries and outdo the left in all the rational and non-rational aspects of human culture.

Understand the traditions that you defend and why they are superior to the left's ideological and highly UNoriginal kulturkampf.

While this article does not solve any issues, it certainly gives the bohemians of the right some semblance of a philosophical approach to the arts that is difficult to find in the current climate.

Please ping any Freepers of artistic bent to this thread.

[TradicalRC]

You’re the only one I know. If there is an “art ping list” please do so.

[Poe White Trash]

Ping!

[r9etb]

This was as close to a "debating beauty" as I could find....

[TradicalRC]

I’m sorry, that’s debating BEAUTy, not deBATing beauty. You wanted the bad pun thread. Unfortunately, I lost the EARL for that.

[r9etb]

...ouch....

[Julia H.]

A-freaking-men.

—A singer/composer who doesn’t care for the cheap, off-the-rack political views the other artists are buying

[TradicalRC]

As a fellow artist I am in complete sympathy. Conservatives are great when it comes to talk radio, alternative television and debates but they are pathetic when it comes to the arts. Plus, you cannot convince them that art is as important as economics (so I won’t even go into the MORE important than argument). Still any artists on the right ought to keep in touch with each other for the sake of creating a cultural well for conservatives to drink from. The other problem I see across the board -from aesthetics to economics- is conservatives go along with the liberal perspective as long as its been around a couple of decades: very frustrating.