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The "definition game":
The resolution of
If you can see apparent paradox by
beauty in claiming multiple
anything than AMERICANBEAUTY definitions are in
does it become play for some of the
impossible to terms in the
distinguish statement of the
between the paradox.
beautiful and
the ugly?
The concept of beauty
can lose it's force. UNIVERSAL_ART
Calling something
"beautiful" becomes
inane, obvious, redundant.
There needs to be an esthetic standard, (absolute? relative?)
a way of evaluating things in order to
choose The Good, or else you're led
into some sort of vapid "It's all good,
man" philosophy. ("Oh, yeah? How about
*this*? Or *this*!
My guess: Was that good?")
different things
are being conflated
under the one tag In the movie "American Beauty",
of "beauty". taking it on it's own terms,
the boy-hero doesn't actually
It wouldn't be terribly hard seem to think that *everything*
to come up with some multiple is beautiful, he is in fact
definitions of beauty, such willing to call the teen-model
that it's possible to claim character "ugly".
that "everything is
beautiful" and still hate the So he just has AMERICANBEAUTY
wallpaper, and realize that a (relatively)
you'd be better off with a unconventional
coat of paint. sense of
what's
beautiful.
But maybe the
definition
game is an
ugly solution. EIGHT_RAVING_BEAUTIES_COUNT_EM
Any alternatives?
How about "category mistake":
When you're overwhelmed by a
vision of the interlocking
structure of the world, the
sweep of human history, the
chaotic waves of manifold
thrust and collapse and
regeneration throughout nature...
And you say to yourself
"It's all beautiful!"
You're not referring to
every detail of existance.
Maybe you're just Maybe the grand
referring to the structure, including
vision. your own striving
for beauty.
Which sounds a lot
like we're back
to a multiplicity
of beauties.
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