the relative importance of aesthtics

[Advocate]

Picture a speck. Now picture that speck on a dot. Now picture that dot among a billion dots. Now picture those billion dots on a surface, like a page but infinite on the x and y axis. Now picture a trillion of the pages stacked upon each other. Now picture those infinite pages are in a speck, and a zillion of those specks make a brick, and that brick is a part of a wall, and that wall expands infinitely in a direction but is part of a labyrinth. And that labyrinth expands infinitely in all directions. And now picture that as a picture in a frame, and that frame is on a wall and that wall has a billion frames, and there is a billion of those walls stacked one behind another in a box. And that box is one in a infinite stack. That first speck is how important aesthetics is to philosophy.

[Walker]

Is the purpose of life to philosophize?
Or, is the purpose of philosophy to enhance life?

[Impenitent]

the first beautiful monad

-Imp

[Will Bouwman]

That first speck is how important aesthetics is to philosophy.

Nah. All of us have access to similar data. The facts we choose to interpret, and the way we choose to interpret them, is not determined by the facts themselves. Culture plays a part, but even in the same cultural milieu, different people interpret substantially the same facts differently. Ultimately, our philosophical and even scientific choices are aesthetic; we choose ideas that please us, just as we choose music and art.

[Advocate]

[quote=Walker post_id=807364 time=1781753345 user_id=11599]
Is the purpose of life to philosophize?
Or, is the purpose of philosophy to enhance life?
[/quote]

The purpose of half of philosophy is to enhance life - Practical Wisdom.
Truth Wisdom is about understanding, independently of intent.

[Walker]

Is the purpose of life to philosophize?
Or, is the purpose of philosophy to enhance life?

The purpose of half of philosophy is to enhance life - Practical Wisdom.
Truth Wisdom is about understanding, independently of intent.

Beauty walks before me, beauty walks behind me, beside me, above me … and so on.

For everyone, aesthetics is a natural physical reaction, or interpretation of the sensory data, that bypasses intellect. (A rose is a rose ...)

For some, that natural physical reaction can be blocked by this and that, such as by intellectual preoccupation that causes one to run that pretty red traffic light.

For scientists, (such as botanists who can look at a tree and perceive it down to the molecular level with mind, along with processes), that natural reaction of immersion in beauty, that unblocked reaction to the world non-scientists naturally experience as a reaction to sensory data, combines to expand outward beyond the skin, with mind, into the universe.

Doesn’t that sound grand?

(edited that should have been done before posting, for ease of reading, and also to correct a split infinitive)

[Walker]

Patanjali was a great scientist ... and artist of the mind/body.

[Advocate]

[quote=Walker post_id=807450 time=1781871816 user_id=11599]
[quote=Advocate post_id=807405 time=1781822718 user_id=15238]
[quote=Walker post_id=807364 time=1781753345 user_id=11599]
Is the purpose of life to philosophize?
Or, is the purpose of philosophy to enhance life?
[/quote]

The purpose of half of philosophy is to enhance life - Practical Wisdom.
Truth Wisdom is about understanding, independently of intent.
[/quote]
Beauty walks before me, beauty walks behind me, beside me, above me … and so on.

For everyone, aesthetics is a natural physical reaction, or interpretation of the sensory data, that bypasses intellect. (A rose is a rose ...)

For some, that natural physical reaction can be blocked by this and that, such as by intellectual preoccupation that causes one to run that pretty red traffic light.

For scientists, (such as botanists who can look at a tree and perceive it down to the molecular level with mind, along with processes), that natural reaction of immersion in beauty, that unblocked [i]reaction to the world[/i] non-scientists naturally experience as a reaction to sensory data, combines to expand outward beyond the skin, with mind, into the universe.

Doesn’t that sound grand?

(edited that should have been done before posting, for ease of reading, and also to correct a split infinitive)
[/quote]

A natural physical reaction is a fine thing to study, but that's psychology, not philosophy.

[Advocate]

[quote=Walker post_id=807451 time=1781872144 user_id=11599]
Patanjali was a great scientist ... and artist of the mind/body.
[/quote]

So was Pinhead.

[popeye1945]

Aesthetics is a biological evaluation, for art is experience, and only biology experiences. It is the experience of ideal imperfect forms, whether biological or inanimate, in that biology is the measure and the meaning of all things. Imperfect in that perfection is unobtainable, for imperfection is the vehicle or the engine of a changing reality, that which does not change would be that which is perfect, and perfect would be lifeless, unchanging, and not of this world. The more beautiful something is, the further away it is from dissolution or death, whether animate or inanimate. Form and function, though always imperfect in this world, the imperfect is perfection in an entirely different sense, for it is the essence of the process of change of life and being. So, the aesthetic is for biological evaluation, the fitness of being. The organism or object speaks to the order and well-being of the subjective consciousness of biological judgment, it is the vibrancy and vitality of life, and the fitness of the object to its function. It is, above all, appreciation, a celebration of being.

[Walker]

Aesthetically, The Obama Presidential Center presents a façade of benevolent, centralized authority and power.

Turn that thang sideways and put some long legs on it, and it looks like a machine from Star Wars but in the tradition of Communist concrete housing.
Some folks find that beautiful. Power ain’t supposed to be pretty. That thang looks like it could crush all the little specks it attracted.

The unreadability of the message on top is consistent with doublethink.

Such an aesthetic representing King Power, runs counter to the United States founding documents.

But, it serves its function as a monument to B. Obama.

[mickthinks]

Such an aesthetic representing King Power, runs counter to the United States founding documents.

But, it serves its function as a monument to B. Obama.

It‘s a strange derangement that recognises the danger to the freedoms of the people of the United States that the centralising of power in the hands of an authoritarian king-figure threatens, and points in alarm to the black guy who peacefully handed over power and retired from the scene ten years ago instead of the white guy who tried to hang on to power by force of a white supremacist insurrection and is back now engaged in subverting, undermining, and destroying every constitutional check, balance, and limit to their personal authority.

But it’s Walker, so suck it up!

[popeye1945]

Picture a speck. Now picture that speck on a dot. Now picture that dot among a billion dots. Now picture those billion dots on a surface, like a page but infinite on the x and y axis. Now picture a trillion of the pages stacked upon each other. Now picture those infinite pages are in a speck, and a zillion of those specks make a brick, and that brick is a part of a wall, and that wall expands infinitely in a direction but is part of a labyrinth. And that labyrinth expands infinitely in all directions. And now picture that as a picture in a frame, and that frame is on a wall and that wall has a billion frames, and there is a billion of those walls stacked one behind another in a box. And that box is one in a infinite stack. That first speck is how important aesthetics is to philosophy.

That is an unfortunate perspective. For aesthetics isn't just about the beauty of objects or their significance; it is ever informing of the subject. Informative of the nature of being and non-being and the quality of one's reality. There is something vital about the quality of one's environment, and aesthetics speaks of this, for it is a truism that context defines, and being part of any given context means you as a biological entity are part of a defining context. Keeping in mind also that biology as a subject is the measure and the meaning of all things, and the significance of those meanings and measurements is important solely to the biological subject, for without the subject the object ceases to exist, and without the object subjective consciousness ceases to be. Aesthetics is not limited to defined fine art; it is experience, the experience of appreciation, and that applies to the world at large. There is true significance to the statement of the Hindu Upanishads, "Thou Art That!" for the world around you is of your own creation, for you do NOT experience reality; you experience what reality does to your body. You perceive only that which alters your body, your standing biological state; you live in a dual world that does not actually exist. Subject and object are only perceptions of life forms and have no reality outside one's subjective consciousness. There is no such thing as independent existence. Life is an island upon itself and the source of all meaning, for in the absence of subjective consciousness the world does not have meaning; indeed, it does not exist, subjectively! Subjectively, however, is the only way a world is known. As you might gather, I value the study of aesthetics more than you indicate you do, for it is a world-encompassing subject.