Monday, January 24, 2005

Aesthetic Realism; or, Is a Person an Aesthetic Situation?

The link below will bring you to an essay by Eli Siegel that I love. It describes, in deep, clear, lively and logical sentences how Aesthetic Realism, the philosophy Mr. Siegel founded, sees the human self, with all its confusion. This work, titled Aesthetic Realism; or, Is a Person an Aesthetic Situation?, is a transcript of an interview given to Lewis Nichols of the New York Times Book Review in 1969, and it has continued to affect people all these years, having them feel understood. It illustrates this central principle of Aesthetic Realism: "Every person is always trying to put opposites together in himself"--or herself! Here's the link--enjoy!
Aesthetic Realism; or, Is a Person an Aesthetic Situation?

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Other links about women's questions

Other links I recommend on the subject of women's questions: From the website of Lynette Abel ; from the website of Aesthetic Realism Consultant and flutist Barbara Allen, who teaches the Aesthetic Realism and Marriage Class; from the website of Aesthetic Realism Consultant and actress Anne Fielding, another of the teachers of this exciting class for women; also, check out the website of consultant Nancy Huntting, who describes what she's learned about the relation of art and life.

Margot Carpenter writes about The House of Mirth

As promised, here is the link to the paper by Aesthetic Realism consultant Margot Carpenter in which she describes the question in her own life, and in many women's: "What Is a Woman's Greatest Victory--Appearing Beautiful or Seeing Beautifully?" She also discusses what a contemporary woman learned about this question in Aesthetic Realism consultations, and writes about how it is in the character Lily Bart, from Wharton's The House of Mirth. What Ms. Carpenter describes can give hope to all women!
Aesthetic Realism Explains a Woman's Greatest Victory, by Margot Carpenter.


Saturday, January 15, 2005

About The Custom of the Country

Edith Wharton was a keen critic of people. The principles of Aesthetic Realism explain how her work can be useful to us. In a paper for an Aesthetic Realism seminar I describe this through a discussion of Undine Spragg in The Custom of the Country, and say what I've learned about how to be intelligent about love and marriage through my study of Aesthetic Realism. Here's a link to that paper:'> "What's Real Intelligence about the World and Ourselves?"

My first post

Aesthetic Realism Consultant Margot Carpenter writes about a question in women's lives that Lily Bart in The House of Mirth comments on deeply and very usefully: "What Is a Woman's Greatest Victory--Appearing Beautiful or Seeing Beautifully?" She also describes how she had this question in her own life, and what she learned about it through her study of Aesthetic Realism. A link to this important paper will be in a future post.