Aestheticism

[Jiva]

Since a large portion of occultism/esotericism relates to how the world is perceived, I thought it be good to have a topic regarding aestheticism. I can’t really think of an amazingly good definition, but I suppose “aestheticism” could be broadly defined as how one perceives the world and one’s creations within it, with a focus on somehow revealing something about existence that was previously hidden.

I also have to confess that, aside from Nietzsche, I don’t really have much experience with the subject, so if someone has encountered Camus, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre etc. then that would be welcome. In the last few weeks I’ve been reading and familiarising myself with a few of the entries in the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (all quite long entries, more like chapters in a book): Existentialist aesthetics, aesthetics of the everyday, and Japanese aesthetics. Particularly the last one is quite interesting (and shorter/easier to read), as the Japanese don’t have the Platonic theories of representation hanging over them: e.g. a chair is not the imperfect representation of some extra-worldly perfect chair, but something that is inherently imperfect and impermanent and should be appreciated as such.

[Heith]

Slightly off topic, but, I think it's somehow quite helpful when we consider that the word "aesthetic" stems from the same root as "ethic". This was only recently brought to my attention, but the more I thought about it, the more obvious and logical it seems.

[Jiva]

Actually, I think that is very much on topic . Not understanding this point is probably the main reason why I didn’t pay much attention whenever philosophers started to mention aesthetics. This is probably also the reason I have such a simplistic view of art: I often like what I like ‘just because’, with not much thought behind it.

One of the reasons I started this topic is that during the translation/editing work me and RaktaZoci have been doing. In the prologue to ‘The Master’s Voice’ Nefastos simply mentions that: “Occultism is not the study of symbolism; rather, the study of symbols is the act of learning the language of occultism.” While it’s not an exact equivalent, maybe to some extent aesthetics can be considered the language of ethics. Of course, art and symbolism overlap somewhat just as occultism and ethics do. Perhaps using symbols or art could be said to reveal something more profound in its concealment.

[Nayana]

Perhaps using symbols or art could be said to reveal something more profound in its concealment.

from what I understand, I like Hegel in that context, for whom art gives a form to spirit, which in this form initially is perceived as something external. Art then would make something internal visible on the outside, even for the beholder, which has a good point considering how the meanings we may see in art can change over time. Some artistic workings seem to me like a frame, so to speak, that allows us to project something onto it that actually does lie within us; "The mountain has not changed nor has the mountain path; only my heart has changed." springs to my mind here. There is an artistic short movie, for example, which I have been watching from time to time over the past 2 years, and it was interesting to see how the meaning I saw in it changed every time, although naturally the movie didn't.