Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Object of (Disordered) Desires


Alice Ramos, a philosopher in the field of aesthetics, opines on the human need for beauty, which Alexander Solzhenitsyn thought that in our time would be called to soar to the place once occupied by truth and goodness and thereby 'complete the work of all three'.

3 comments:

David Nybakke said...

Ath, Really thought provoking. I was never brought up with art and therefore I had understanding for any connection between art and truth.

I was fortunate to have had some introduction to limited number of literary classics which stirred my soul.

Alice Ramos brings up some major issues that strike home. Her interview would make a great high school and or college course outline. I found myself sensing a bit of MT throughout her interview.

Just look at the richness of this quote from a Girardian perspective:

"At times the images may have the appearance of the beautiful, but it is a deceptive and false beauty which simply arouses the desire for possession and closes the person in on him or herself. The constant bombardment of such images silences the voice of conscience, such that persons are no longer able to detect the divine and moral element in themselves; they thus become forgetful of their true identity."

Thank you for this post.

David Nybakke said...

This interview speaks volumes about our struggle even with this current election. Like in art, as Ramos explains, Truth has been effectively separated from all aspects of life and issues.

Athos said...

My notes from the October '07 Emmaus Road Initiative session in DC carry a great assortment of Bailie's comments on Truth, Beauty, and Goodness as referentials:

Yeats - "Michaelangelo left the proof on the Cistine Chapel roof."

Vs.

Ricoeur's masters of suspicion, Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche: "Truth is ugly."

Check it out! Cheers