(Originally Written March 1, 2008 in the Journal).
What is Art?
Leo Tolstoy
Ch. 7
Pro captu lectoris habant sua fata libelli - The fate of books depends on the head of the reader.
Goodness, beauty and truth are treated as metaphysical and fundamental, but this is not the case.
However we understand goodness "our life is nothing but a striving towards the good, that is, towards God" (Maude, 141). Goodness is the fundamental metaphysical perception which forms the essence of our consciousness. Goodness cannot be defined; but it defines everything else.
Beauty is merely that which pleases us. It does not belong to the same fundamental level as goodness. Beauty often lies contrary to goodness because goodness often results in victory over the passions, while beauty has its roots in the passions.
The terms, 'moral beauty' and 'spiritual beauty' are word games that simply are another way of saying goodness.
Truth is merely a correspondence of an expression with reality. It is not fundamental like goodness is.
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