Art & Aesthetics

In a post-religious world, there have been several exponents who have tried to argue that art and the aesthetic experience can be a valid substitute for the religious experience.

The crux of the argument is that during an intense aesthetic experience, the senses are heightened and "elevated" leading to a change in the way one perceives the world. In the most intense experiences the barrier between the subject and object (be it a painting or music or novel) is dissolved.

Harold Bloom in his work "Where shall wisdom be found" seeks to find meaning through literature, but although he seems to do much to describe the human condition, he does not teach us how to transcend it. It seems to degenrate into a list of some many moments of aesthetic experience and beautiful works.

The ancient Greeks to me are a most interesting race because they were the ones who had imbued the aesthetic experience with the greatest importance. I suspect that many of the ancient Greeks had felt dissillusioned with the stories of Homer and the capriciousness of the Gods, in the same way that modern man had felt that traditional religious forms did not suffice.

The great plays of Sopholcles and Euripidies shed much light on the human condition.