How does the public sphere purvey a moral system? The government funds art and it could grant subsidies to artists with positive messages. The obvious, and stupid, Rawlsian retort would be “who chooses what is moral?” Traditional virtues of love, kindness, honesty, humility, grace, mercy, love, education, etc… are not controversial between the major religionsContinue reading “Purveying Morality in the Public Sphere”
Tag Archives: Art
Rawls, Blending Goldfish, and the Avant Garde’s Thin-Good
As a member of the left, I can attest that it has had a conflicted morality for a long time. They will love Reniassiance Art, Opera, and the other trappings of European high culture and then talk about how much they hate Western culture. Maybe syllogism would forbid claiming operas and hunter-gatherers are both betterContinue reading “Rawls, Blending Goldfish, and the Avant Garde’s Thin-Good”
The Death of Style
If social progress over the past many decades has done anything to aesthetic culture, it has eroded it from something romantic into something utilitarian, and not in the Millsian sense. It used to be that hedonism meant Lord Byron or what Meatloaf lamented in the song “Bless my soul” in The Rocky Horror Picture ShowContinue reading “The Death of Style”
From Westies to Weebs: The Diversity of the Spectrum
Autism is a polyphyletic group. It hasn’t been proven to be one conclusively but I think it is safe to assume that it is a group of similar conditions rather than a singe condition. The diversity of the spectrum is not spoken about often except to delineate the higher from the lower functioning among us.Continue reading “From Westies to Weebs: The Diversity of the Spectrum”
Urban Planning in Space Colonies
In the next few years our species is going to build its first cities in space and one of my great fears is that when they do, the cities will grow organically based on the utilitarian needs of the first settlers. Building cities from scratch comes with the wonderful opportunity to create something beautiful andContinue reading “Urban Planning in Space Colonies”
Myths Versus Men: Options for Replacing Statues
Recently, there has been controversy about statues remaining up. Not only confederate statues but also statues like Winston Churchill, Cecil Rhodes, and many others. These statues have had their strident defenders, as well. Yet, from my perspective the purpose of statues is aesthetic more than commemorative. Instead of focusing the bulk of our statuesContinue reading “Myths Versus Men: Options for Replacing Statues”
A Lamentation of Art: An Old Romantic’s Longing for Depth
As I say elsewhere on this website, I’m an old-timey romantic. I dearly miss the old anthems and as a youth who drinks the pop culture, as I must, I miss the haunting spirituality, ethereal eternalism, and stalking timelessness of the fables and folktales of the older genres. The dubstep, mainstream hip-hop, and electronic popContinue reading “A Lamentation of Art: An Old Romantic’s Longing for Depth”
The Values We Celebrate: A Treatise of Monuments and the Collective Psyche
Recently, there has been a resurgence in interest in taking down racist monuments and other racist things. A sentiment, I generally agree with. Especially, Confederate monuments should be demolished or moved to a museum. Although, a few monuments need be erected to Confederate people like privates William Finklea, William Boyd, Jimmy Pratt, and others whoContinue reading “The Values We Celebrate: A Treatise of Monuments and the Collective Psyche”
Tribes of the Wasteland: The Atomization of the Culture
I have written often about Robert Moses’ style design and the balkanization of the culture and the effects of those things on society. One of the effects I have not emphasized is the creation of disparate subcultures and the effects that has, not only on people being unable to empathize with each other on anContinue reading “Tribes of the Wasteland: The Atomization of the Culture”
The Autistic Resistance 