Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Because of the Fall, Absolute Beauty in the World is Gone


Christianity uses the word absolute in several instances. Absolute truth, absolute goodness and absolute beauty are all useable , yet seemingly undefinable, terms used by theists.

Philosophically, many have tried to define the thought of absolute beauty.

Socrates thought the pleasure you felt from objects that were intrinsically beautiful described beauty; he found that beauty in geometric shapes, single colors and music. Plato only went as far as saying beauty was relative and that the measure of beauty was related to intelligence. 

When religion gets involved it's the same old stuff, God is absolute beauty, just as he is absolute good and absolute truth. Some just don't have to work very hard at a definition. Some days when I'm brain dead I almost envy the laziness of theist thinking.

Postmodernism gives the simple thought that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Easy to comprehend. A simple example would be if we all had the same standard of beauty, there would only be one happily married man, or one happily married woman.

Again though, even if these thoughts appear to be fairly obvious, it's not enough. Some would wish you to believe there is an absolute standard.

Living with the knowledge that absolutes exist, and that you will never experience that absolute in life, must make for a dismal existence. A life of always knowing that your experiences are not as good as they could be. The music that stirs you, the art that moves you, the life you lead, all lacking in some unperceivable way.

The life of a theist is a constant yearning for things better, even though everything they need is right in front of them.

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