Hi Squonk:
WILBER:
> << "That of course is the central definition of 'beauty' from the time of
> Plato
> and Plotinus to the Scholastic's: an object possesses beauty to the
> extent that it is transparent to the Divine, the it allows the One to
> shine through it. Likewise, a work of art is beautiful (and good and true)
> to the extent that it is translucent to nondual Spirit, that it lies which
> is
> beyond
> itself to shine through--as Mondrian said, to the extent that it
> aesthetically expresses the universal. And correlatively, an artist is
> 'good' to the extent that he or she can detach from the ego or transcend
> the separate self-sense and allow superconscious to flow through him or
> her into the work of art."
PLATT
> Substitute Quality for Spirit, the One, the universal, superconscious, the
> Divine, etc. and you find Pirsig and Wilber preaching a similar gospel.
> But nowhere did Pirsig make such a vivid description of what art was
> really about. And, of course, "beauty" has been the ax on which I have
> ground many a previous post because IMO it is the manifest expression of
> DQ breaking through and transcending all other values.
SQUONK
> Plotinus argues that beauty cannot be the One because we know beauty and
> the One is beyond knowing. Also, beauty can be shocking, therefore it can
> be differentiated from the good. The Good or the One is described by
> Plotinus as the super beautiful ot beauty beyond beauty. To sum up, the One
> is prior to beauty.
PLOTINUS (From First Ennead, Sixth Tractate)
"Therefore, first let each become godlike and each beautiful who cares
to see God and Beauty. So, mounting, the Soul will come first to the
Intellectual-Principle and survey all the beautiful ideas in the Supreme
and will avow this is Beauty, that the Ideas are Beauty. For by their
efficacy comes all Beauty else, but the offspring and essence of the
Intellectual-Being. What is beyond the Intellectual-Principle we affirm to
be the nature of Good radiating Beauty before it. So that, treating the
Intellectual-Kosmos as one, the first is the Beautiful: if we make
distinction there, the Realm of Ideas constitutes the beauty of the
Intellectual Sphere; and the Good, which lies beyond, is the Fountain at
once and Principle of Beauty: the Primal Good and the Primal Beauty
have the one dwelling place and, thus, always, Beauty's seat is There."
PLATT
Maybe you read this differently, but to me Plotinus is clearly saying what
Wilber suggests--that beauty is transparent to the One, the "Primal
Good and the Primal Beauty." Note the similarity to Pirsig's intellectual
level and DQ "which lies beyond." Also, for something which is "beyond
knowing," Plotinus gives us a pretty good description of the One (-:
If you have a direct quote from Plotinus that confirms your
interpretation, I'd love to see it. Thanks.
Platt
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:02:15 BST