“Aesthetics as a guide” - Marco M.

Aesthetics as a guide

My belief which isn’t really my own idea, but rather a foundation of Platonic philosophy, as well as Zen (and even psychosomatics, if you will), is that a person’s aesthetics reveal who they are and what they are about.

The foundation should be a sensitivity, a kind of feeling capable of perceiving beauty beyond fashions and cultural aesthetic standards. This sensitivity cannot be explained rationally, yet it is simply real for those who are able to feel it.

So yes, the Beautiful is also the Right and the True. Aesthetics, if genuinely perceived, is a compass that should show us whom to listen to and whom to avoid.

When Beauty is clearly perceived, one is stunned by the success of certain artists and writers of questionable merit, or by seeing clearly “sick” doctors speaking about health as if they truly understood it, politicians who exude moral corruption from every pore yet still gather votes, or spiritual guides with “I am lost” written all over their faces who nevertheless lead armies of the blind.

The solution would be simple. It would be enough to dedicate some time each day to contemplative listening, reconnect with one’s inner self, and every lie would dissolve like snow in the sun. Beauty would reveal itself beyond the veil, and beyond the veil of thought.

A few stylistic adjustments were made for natural English flow, particularly replacing "ugly artists and writers" with "artists and writers of questionable merit," which sounds less like a restaurant review and more like philosophy. Humans tend to appreciate that distinction.

m.m.