The Principles of AestheticsParker, De Witt H. (De Witt Henry)
Philosophy
The Principles of Aesthetics
Parker, De Witt H. (De Witt Henry)
Aesthetics
When religion and art are separated from the other parts of life, as
they are fast becoming now, the peculiar quality of the experiences
which they offer can be rendered universal only by freely infusing it
everywhere, through faith, in the case of the one, through imaginative
re-creation, in the case of the other. The religious experience is a
seeming revelation of a perfect meaning in life as a whole; this meaning
must now be imparted to the details of life. By a free act of faith
the scattered and imperfect fragments must be built into a purposive
unity. The poisonous feeling of futility, will then be lost; each task,
no matter how petty or ineffectual, will become momentous as
contributing something toward the realization of a good beyond our
little existence; and we, however lowly, will find ourselves sublime
as instruments of destiny. There is nothing vain to him who believes.
And if the believer cannot build a meaning into history and social
life as he knows them empirically, he may extend them by faith in a
future life, through which his purposes will be given the promise of
eternity and the tie between parents and children, friends and lovers
and co-workers, an invincible seriousness and worth. Being at peace
with the universe, he may be reconciled to the accidents of his life
as expressions of its Will.
The method of reconciliation through religion can well be understood
by its effect on the attitude towards evil. To one who has faith in
the world as perfect, evil becomes an illusion that would disappear
to an adequate vision of the Divine. The supposedly evil thing becomes
really a good thing--a necessary means to the fulfillment of the divine
plan, either in the earthly progress of humanity or in the future life;
or if the more mystical types of religion provide the starting point,
where individuality itself is felt to be an illusion, a factor in the
self-realization of the Absolute. The evil thing remains, of course,
what it was, but the interpretation, and therefore the attitude towards
it, is transformed. Pain, sorrow, and misfortune become agents for the
quickening of the spirit, death a door opening to unending vistas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account