Maggie McBrady: Questions and Confusions

Student Chosen Topic
            I like things to be structured.  I want to know what is expected of me and what I need to do to meet those expectations.  My initial understanding of the first essay assignment made it seem like a simple task but thinking about it further the task seems to be more daunting.  This is my first real philosophy class; I took Phil 101 last semester but that doesn't really count in my mind.  As I said before, I like things that are structured and philosophy seems anything but structured.  There are different thoughts and theories but they are all open ended and ready for interpretation.
          I was just re-reading Ancient Art and Ritual and a sentence jumped out at me:

We mimic not only others but ourselves mechanically, even after all emotion proper to the act is dead; and then because mimicry has a certain ingenious charm, it becomes an end in itself for ritual, even for art.

If I'm understanding the author correctly I don't think I agree with her.  If mimicry takes out the emotion from an act and is only going through the motion then how can it become an end in itself for ritual or art?  If mimicry is what develops into a ritual or art then a ritual would have no emotion behind it.  Ritual, in my opinion, is supposed to have an assortment of emotions behind it.  Ritual is supposed to mean something for the people who practice it and art is supposed to make those who view or witness it feel something.  If there is no emotion then it is just a group of people doing pointless motions.  Maybe the authors intent is going over my head or I've spun the words in my head too many times to get the clear meaning. 

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So after asking about the quote and gaining a bit more insight I have reached a final conclusion.  The author was indeed saying what I initially thought and I still disagree for the same reasons.

Life As a Work of Art

Life As a Work of Art

Topic of Choice
September 24, 2015

What sets humans apart from the rest of created order is that we are artists. We were created to create. The 20th century nihilist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche believed that life was ultimately meaningless; yet he went on to say that “man would rather have the Void as his meaning than be void of meaning.” Nietzsche saw the vanity of life as an opportunity to courageously and autonomously project our own meaning and values onto life. Because of the death of God, anything is possible. He called for people to create their own values and treat their lives as a work of art. Nietzsche’s writings deeply influenced and inspired the Nazi Party’s commitment to German supremacy. The Judeo-Christian worldview holds that God bestowed upon humans the freedom to create. However, unlike Nietzsche’s system, this privilege came with one condition: we are to live and create within the parameters of that which God has said to be good and true. In Genesis chapter one God commands Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. To eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to put yourself in the place of God and declare what is good and true. In Nietzsche’s system, there are no parameters because life is meaningless. Man is autonomous and free to create whatever he pleases, be it good or evil. In Christianity, life is given meaning and structure through the commands of God, which are the parameters within which humans were made to create. Anything created outside of the truth of God’s command leads to death. We are not Creators, as Nietzsche suggests. We are sub-creators. We ourselves are not the Artist but the image of the artist. 

The Dance of the Trinity

The Dance of the Trinity

Other Readings: Proverbs 8

September 24, 2015

The Nicene Creed states that God is three in persons and one in essence. By nature, the triune God of the Bible is a relational being. Proverbs 8 gives a colorful, unique glimpse into the Judeo-Christian understanding of creation. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus is referred to as the personified wisdom of God. “I was beside him like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always.”(8:30) The Hebrew word for “delight” suggests that the creative act the Divine was a dance. God was playing, singing, and dancing as he formed the universe. The famous American philosopher-theologian, Jonathan Edwards believed that God created the world not out of personal deficiency but out of an overflow of love and joy in the perfection of his trinitarian being. The nature of love is dynamic and fluid, always extending itself to others. God communicates his glory by creating a people for himself who can share in the praise of his glory and participate in the dance of the trinity. In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis beautifully articulates that “in Christianity God is not an impersonal thing nor a static thing - not even just one person - but a dynamic pulsating activity, a life, a kind of drama, almost, if you will not think me irreverent, a kind of dance…The pattern of this three-personal life is…the great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality.” All of our movements call for harmony and symmetry. It could be that rhythm is the greatest proof of God. We move because God first moved. We dance because He first danced and set all things in motion. Our desire as humans is to dive into the cosmic order we observe in everything around us; to delight, rejoice, and play in this glorious world. Our beings are full of divine energy, longing to be released through dance and movement.

Rhythms of Life

Rhythms of Life

Class Readings: Gerardus Van Der Leeuw/Sacred and Profane Beauty

September 22, 2015

Gerardus Van Der Leeuw says that “the movements of life are perceived as an expression of a higher power which lies behind life.”(p.42) As humans, we feel the need for ordered movement. This desire can be manifestly observed through a football team executing a play, a car driving on the road, an athlete going out on a morning run, or a barista preparing a cup of coffee. All human activity exhibits and demands this inclination for ordered movement. Rhythm is the very pulse of life, beating in our hearts, reminding us that our existence is inextricably tied to the physical bodies we live in on this earth. Van Der Leeuw wisely observes that “life does not need to be stylized. It has its own style.”(p.43) The paradox of this statement is that through life does not need to be stylized, we make every attempt to give it style through, art, architecture, fashion, and many other mediums. It is not that the style of life is insufficient for us. We are deeply moved and inspired by the style of life. It is the inspiration we experience as observers of such a complex and simple world that drive us to become active participants in the style of life ourselves, through enactment. 

#1: What is Beauty?

Beauty is not so much something that is aesthetically pleasing - these things are simply given the name "beautiful." Beauty is the force within us that lends its own name to all that aligns with good, pure, lovely, and free. Beauty can be simple or complex, small or huge, pleasurable or painful. While it is gloriously unique within each person, beauty has some universal factors that are found beautiful by all, and beauty's function is to boast of a Creator. Truly beautiful things whisper, "This is not an accident."

An example of something I find beautiful is mountains. Mountains are beautiful to me uniquely - as an artist, I appreciate artistic elements that show up in mountainous landscapes such as atmospheric perspective and silhouette. But mountains, in their hugeness and majesty, also hold universal beauty in their size and strength.

After reading the other students' reflections on beauty, I stand by my definition of beauty, but also desire to understand how other individuals define it. There is still a universal quality to beauty, but the diverse facets of its subjectivity are worth investigating to understand beauty more fully and to understand one another.

What Is Beauty? Kira Nelson

1. Initial thoughts on beauty:
I initially described beauty as lovely, unadulterated, wild, free, and something that you can behold not only with your eyes, but with other senses as well. A few of my classmates attributed holiness to beauty which I really liked and so I added that on to my definition later.

2. Example of beauty:
Someone dancing full of joy and with freedom, especially in worship of Yahweh. My example was David dancing before the Lord when the arc of the covenant is returned to Jerusalem. Someone dancing in this way corresponds with my initial thoughts on beauty in that it is wild, free, and holy. I imagine that it was also experienced with multiple senses. Of course, there is the visual aspect of the dance and how it appears to onlookers, but the dance can also be felt. Felt in the feet that are stomping on the street and the movements of the body, but also felt within the soul of the dancer. Perhaps also in the souls of some looking on as they may have craved to encounter this beauty and join the dance as well.

3. After thoughts:
As I stated above, I liked that a few classmates said that holiness was an attribute of beauty. One thing I thought it was interesting was that many people connected beauty with an emotional response to some experience. To connect beauty and emotion had never crossed my mind before. As the discussion progressed I found myself feeling so happy and relieved to be in Search for Beauty as I realized I wasn't quite sure what it is.