Hi Erin:
> I had told you briefly how I thought that truth beauty was a coexistence
> and not a duality like beauty is truth. You agreed it may be a
> transcendence and may be a key to the 5th level. The conversation ended
> there and I was wondering did you have any more ideas of how this
> transcendence worked?
I like your truth/beauty coexistent idea. I made a list of other coexistents
some time ago but haven't been able to locate it. I do remember that
truth/beauty was at the top of the list. As for transcendent aspects of
beauty, I introduced my ideas on the subject in a post sometime last
year. Here is how it went:
First, beauty transcends the evolutionary pattern of increasing depth
and value. It belies our assumptions of growth and progress. Are our
present buildings more beautiful than the Parthenon? Are our present
churches more beautiful than Chartes? Are our present dishes more
beautiful that Greek vases? Are our musical compositions more
beautiful than Mozart's? Even though our ideas of beauty may change,
beautiful patterns -unlike biological, social and intellectual patterns --
don't evolve and improve with time. The animal paintings by unknown
early humans in the caves of Lascaux have never been surpassed.
Second, beauty transcends society. It imposes no duties or
obligations. No one can sue you for choosing one color over another,
one song over the next. While government may ban certain works of art
or use them for propaganda purposes, it cannot prevent you from
seeking and responding to beauty. Society's pressures are irrelevant,
except by those who mistake passing fashion for beauty. Further,
beauty doesn't depend for its presence on social or cultural contexts; it
is felt and recognized by everyone, everywhere.
Third, beauty transcends intellect. It is never true or false. It just is. Like
the universe itself, it has no intellectual meaning beyond its own
presence, and has no purpose other than to delight. Unlike intellect, it
assumes nothing, presumes nothing, explains nothing, solves
nothing, teaches nothing. It doesn't ask questions or supply answers.
Yet it breathes fire into the physicist's equations and reveals truths
beyond our understanding.
Finally, beauty enables us to temporarily transcend the specter of
death to join the eternal. As Rollo May put it. "We hear the songs of
angels in a symphony, we bow a moment to communicate with infinity,
and then return to digging potatoes."
Why do I think beauty may be a fifth level? Well, for one thing, because
of its transcendent qualities outlined above.
Secondly, Pirsig hints at the possibility in Chap.13: “Finally there's a
fourth Dynamic morality which isn't a code. He supposed you could call
it a "code of Art" or something like that, but art is usually thought of as
such a frill that that title undercuts its importance.”
But the real kicker for me is that above the realm of ideas, beauty rules.
Nobody has stopped looking at it, and no one has stopped enjoying
the sight. We are no more capable of turning a cold eye to beauty than
responding with indifference to a baby's cry. The aesthetic experience
at its highest intensity breaks through the intellect’s dependence on
distinctions and divisions, and in a memorable if but fleeting moment,
lays bare the mystic unity of all.
Platt
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