The above link is to an article I find very interesting. I like the idea of aesthetics being a catalyst for human-development. It as well could be as a basis for other things such as morals and ethics. The experience of beauty can certainly raise an individual to heightened states of awareness, understanding, and perspective.
Thoughts?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Yes, all very lovely but the reality of late C18th early C19th was only aesthetic if you were elite.
Goethe’s comment ...
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”
...doesn’t really cut it for the general populace in Weimar! And this is the guy that chastised Beethoven for not doffing his hat to the approaching nobleman.
There is not much difference between C18th/C19th social values then and now other than technology and the middle class idyllic reflection of high culture viewed through a myopic rose tinted lens.
Geoffrey51
Level 8
Oct 8, 2019
0
Gawd:
"all very lovely but the reality of late C18th early C19th was only aesthetic if you were elite."
Were the non-elite not able to appreciate the beauty of the natural world? Looking at a tree with a sense of awe and reverence is pretty cheap.
"And this is the guy that chastised Beethoven for not doffing his hat to the approaching nobleman."
This is just a strawman. His position on class structure, particularly during his time, relative or not, is merely a snippet of his thought. Chastising the entire notion of "the beautiful soul" merely based on that is a tad excessive. Also, Goethe was not the only individual to promote this concept so the ad hominem rebuttal wouldn't stand even if it was proper rebuttal.
As for being myopic, I would say that dismissing the idea with a flippant remark such as "Yes, all very lovely" takes the cake.
@Gawd Sorry to upset. You did say ‘thoughts’
I have at times contended that beauty is in the eye of the beerholder 
FearlessFly
Level 9
Oct 8, 2019
2
Gawd:
As I have at times contented that beauty is truth, truth beauty. 
@Gawd . . . only if you have been drinking your beer out of a "Grecian Urn" (Keats)
Gawd:
@FearlessFly Just they way I like to. They're covered in pretty pictures.
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