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I wouldn't say you must agree with a statement like "the purpose of life is to foster beauty" but it is the life philosophy for quite a lot of people. That is

by retrac 3y ago

I wouldn't say you must agree with a statement like "the purpose of life is to foster beauty" but it is the life philosophy for quite a lot of people. That is to say, beauty, or creating the possibility of beauty, is the greatest value - more important than justice or easing pain, perhaps. Many otherwise inexplicable and often self-destructive behaviours, can only be understood in that light. This is such a strange mode of thinking, one I don't subscribe to (I'm usually quite painfully utilitarian) that I struggle to understand it. But I suspect that just tells me I'm not quite "grokking it", and it's not that their values are just decadent and bourgeois. Though I will admit, this tendency does seem to show up strongest among the decadent bourgeois.

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orwin 3y ago
You are exactly right. And this thinking becomes dangerous if the same people who prefer form over function start ranking which form are "objectively" the best. I will have to go political here, sorry, you shouldn't read it if it makes you unhappy. Aesthetics over matter, form over function is one of a well-know defining trait of fascism. Not the only one, but one of the main one. It create a hierarchical order, a new one, amongst structure, amongst objects, to enhance the society hierarchical order. Somehow, Fascism, despite sometime using "egalitarian" politics at first (i will note that those policies aren't really egalitarian, but meritocratic at first, even if in most historical cases this meant the same), manage to create the ultimate hierarchical society. "Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property. The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life". ("Work of Art", W. Benjamin). It's why Fascism is called "far-right". And it's why, dear friends from AF and other royalists, fascists _are_ more far-right than you, ultimately (sorry). (i'm taking the standard definition of left and right here: left is a push toward egalitarianism, right is a push towards hierarchical society, whether it is economic, politic or other reasons that makes that hierarchy. Nothing to do with conservatism or liberalism or any -ism, so USians and the rest of the world can agree).
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by retrac 3y ago

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orwin 3y ago

You are exactly right. And this thinking becomes dangerous if the same people who prefer form over function start ranking which form are "objectively" the best. I will have to go political here, sorry, you shouldn't read it if it makes you unhappy. Aesthetics over matter, form over function is one of a well-know defining trait of fascism. Not the only one, but one of the main one. It create a hierarchical order, a new one, amongst structure, amongst objects, to enhance the society hierarchical order. Somehow, Fascism, despite sometime using "egalitarian" politics at first (i will note that those policies aren't really egalitarian, but meritocratic at first, even if in most historical cases this meant the same), manage to create the ultimate hierarchical society. "Fascism attempts to organize the newly created proletarian masses without affecting the property structure which the masses strive to eliminate. Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not their right, but instead a chance to express themselves. The masses have a right to change property relations; Fascism seeks to give them an expression while preserving property. The logical result of Fascism is the introduction of aesthetics into political life". ("Work of Art", W. Benjamin). It's why Fascism is called "far-right". And it's why, dear friends from AF and other royalists, fascists _are_ more far-right than you, ultimately (sorry). (i'm taking the standard definition of left and right here: left is a push toward egalitarianism, right is a push towards hierarchical society, whether it is economic, politic or other reasons that makes that hierarchy. Nothing to do with conservatism or liberalism or any -ism, so USians and the rest of the world can agree).

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