The purpose of beauty according to Emerson has to do with a persons soul. Emerson believes the soul seeks to satisfy beauty. Beauty also according to him enchants Nature. It's actually a part of it.
Emerson thinks that behind something beautiful lies nature. "But beauty in nature is not ultimate"....When Emerson states this, I think that he is trying to say that sometimes nature is not always beautiful. People see it as it is and they don't look beyond it which connects back to the "Nature". "Truth, and goodness, and beauty, are but different faces of the same All." Here Emerson connects beauty back to God, saying that God is one but, he has many personalities of beauty, and that man should also possess these qualities.
Emerson's opinion of beauty is one of beauty lying in nature and in anything else created by this idea of an "oversoul." He believes that one must view nature as a whole in order to really capture it's beauty instead of just one element at a time. I think that when he says "It is the herald of inward and eternal beauty, and i not alone a solid and satisfactory good", he is saying that nature is what helps us trigger what is beautiful about ourselves and like Devon mentioned, it helps us get in touch with our soul or spirit.
Beauty is defined differently to everyone."it is one expression for the universe".Everyone has those qualities thay looking for or that appeal to them and appeals can obvoiusly vary otherwise we would all have the same "taste" for things.Thee are also different aspects to beauty then the superficial one,"Truth,and goodness,and beauty are but diffent faces of the same All".Which ever statifies your soul.
I agree with Devon Emerson talks about Beauty as it being apart of a persons soul. Beauty gives everyone something "different" to the world which brings them together under a common "soul", it also allows them to stand out and be the individual they were meant to be, but it is up to them to take the time and find it within themselves. Not everyone knows that they have such a gift but once they embrace it and learn what good can come of it they finally can be one with themselves and Nature, they can finally be in peace and in solitude.
In the beginning of the excerpt, I believe Emerson is saying that everyone wants to live up to society's expectations of beauty. There are different aspects of beauty, which shows one's individuality. When Emerson states, "It is a herald of inward and eternal beauty, and is not alone a solid and satisfactory good", I believe he is saying that nature expresses beauty that awakens and touches our soul, and it is not a materialistic/superficial pleasure.
I think that Emerson thinks that the soul seeks beauty but beauty is not the only thing the soul seeks. I think when we feed our souls beauty (of nature in particular),our souls are pleased but not satisfied. Beauty serves many purposes, which including pleasing our soul, and uniting us all, but beauty is just one face of God. In nature, we see God's face everywhere. God is in nature and through nature we find goodness, beauty, and truth, which is exactly why beauty plays a major role in satisfying our souls, but it is NOT the only factor. Granted, nature is beautiful but we cant be blinded by this one factor; we must analyze, interpret, and appreciate all parts of nature because that is what connects us to God. This can be proven through the lines "Truth, and goodness, and beauty, are but different faces of the same ALL. But beauty is not ultimate...It [beauty] must stand as a part, and not as yet the last or the highest expression of the final cause of Nature." Nature serves many purpose , thus its only purpose can not be to feed one soul's thirst for beauty, but it is a major contributing factor.People shouldn't be so easily blinded because there are great things and nature and we need to take advantage of all of it, not just some aspects.
Oh, and by the way, in the Thoreau piece, page 288 is copied twice. Haha. I looked at it and said to my self, "Hey, this page looks quite familiar."
"But beauty in nature is not ultimate" I disagree with Nisi,I believe Emerson does believe nature is beautiful but we have to look beyond its beauty. "not ultimate" meaning, not the furthest, deepest point. I think he is trying to say That again, we just must look beyond the term beauty in order to realize the more important meanings.
"Truth, goodness, and beauty are but different faces of the same All." Simply, i think Emerson is trying to say that beauty is just one aspect of a person and it takes a lot more than external beauty to make your sole at one with nature. Also, i stopped at the end of this sentence to notice he had capitalized the letter A in All. I think when he refers to "different faces of the same All" he means God and his characteristics, so he capitalizes A to show respect for God. I believe he refers to God because in the sentence before, he says God is the all-fair and i think he is continuing with that idea. This sentence then means that God, the almighty creator of nature, produces not only beauty but truth and goodness.
"It must stand as a part, and not as yet the last or highest expression of the final cause of Nature." Emerson goes against much popular belief in society, even today, that beauty is of most importance. There must be other aspects of a person in order to make them stand out. In fact, i think Emerson thinks of beauty as a superstitious term.
One more thing i realized while reading is that Emerson thinks of Nature and God as the same. He switches the use of both terms. Nature being the last word in the passage is capitalized. However, he does not capitalize it when referring to nature before, but i think he does it in the end to show the importance of Nature.
I agree with Kristin on the part where she says "All" is synonymous to God.
Emerson claims "Truth, and goodness, and beauty, are but diffrent faces of the same All." He means that different aspects of God are highlighted as baing beauty, truth and goodness. I think what Emerson is trying to say about beauty is that beauty is only one aspect of nature, and that the elements of "truth and goodness" can serve to be beauty in diguise-meaning that truth and goodness can mean beauty also. He is trying to say that instead of just looking directly and only for beauty in nature, we should try to look beyond that' for truth and goodness; for other things besides just beauty standing alone. Yes, beauty is important to everyone, but Emerson is trying to say that beauty should not be interpreted in only one way and that beauty is not the only thing our souls should yearn for in nature. We must not fail to neglect the aspects of nature that consists of "goodness and truth."
I believe that Emerson is saying that beauty is something that has no concrete definiation. It basically like nature. We read today that nature cannot be explained completely and that it it just the face of god. So is beauty. I also believe that Emerson says that the soul searches for beauty. When he says that "..the soul to satisfy the desire of beauty", he means that the human soul and spirit tries to find that beauty in nature but it comes in maay different faces and is "not ultimate". Beauty is something that also enhances the nature aorund us ans makes it easier to connect with.
11 comments:
sorry i didnt realize i didnt make a post.. so i will post the people who did comment right here.
sry about tht
--Kristin
DEVON--
Ok the following is for 2/11/08's homework.
The purpose of beauty according to Emerson has to do with a persons soul. Emerson believes the soul seeks to satisfy beauty. Beauty also according to him enchants Nature. It's actually a part of it.
February 11, 2008 4:11 PM
Emerson thinks that behind something beautiful lies nature. "But beauty in nature is not ultimate"....When Emerson states this, I think that he is trying to say that sometimes nature is not always beautiful. People see it as it is and they don't look beyond it which connects back to the "Nature". "Truth, and goodness, and beauty, are but different faces of the same All." Here Emerson connects beauty back to God, saying that God is one but, he has many personalities of beauty, and that man should also possess these qualities.
Emerson's opinion of beauty is one of beauty lying in nature and in anything else created by this idea of an "oversoul." He believes that one must view nature as a whole in order to really capture it's beauty instead of just one element at a time. I think that when he says "It is the herald of inward and eternal beauty, and i not alone a solid and satisfactory good", he is saying that nature is what helps us trigger what is beautiful about ourselves and like Devon mentioned, it helps us get in touch with our soul or spirit.
Beauty is defined differently to everyone."it is one expression for the universe".Everyone has those qualities thay looking for or that appeal to them and appeals can obvoiusly vary otherwise we would all have the same "taste" for things.Thee are also different aspects to beauty then the superficial one,"Truth,and goodness,and beauty are but diffent faces of the same All".Which ever statifies your soul.
I agree with Devon Emerson talks about Beauty as it being apart of a persons soul. Beauty gives everyone something "different" to the world which brings them together under a common "soul", it also allows them to stand out and be the individual they were meant to be, but it is up to them to take the time and find it within themselves. Not everyone knows that they have such a gift but once they embrace it and learn what good can come of it they finally can be one with themselves and Nature, they can finally be in peace and in solitude.
In the beginning of the excerpt, I believe Emerson is saying that everyone wants to live up to society's expectations of beauty. There are different aspects of beauty, which shows one's individuality. When Emerson states, "It is a herald of inward and eternal beauty, and is not alone a solid and satisfactory good", I believe he is saying that nature expresses beauty that awakens and touches our soul, and it is not a materialistic/superficial pleasure.
I think that Emerson thinks that the soul seeks beauty but beauty is not the only thing the soul seeks. I think when we feed our souls beauty (of nature in particular),our souls are pleased but not satisfied. Beauty serves many purposes, which including pleasing our soul, and uniting us all, but beauty is just one face of God. In nature, we see God's face everywhere. God is in nature and through nature we find goodness, beauty, and truth, which is exactly why beauty plays a major role in satisfying our souls, but it is NOT the only factor. Granted, nature is beautiful but we cant be blinded by this one factor; we must analyze, interpret, and appreciate all parts of nature because that is what connects us to God. This can be proven through the lines "Truth, and goodness, and beauty, are but different faces of the same ALL. But beauty is not ultimate...It [beauty] must stand as a part, and not as yet the last or the highest expression of the final cause of Nature." Nature serves many purpose , thus its only purpose can not be to feed one soul's thirst for beauty, but it is a major contributing factor.People shouldn't be so easily blinded because there are great things and nature and we need to take advantage of all of it, not just some aspects.
Oh, and by the way, in the Thoreau piece, page 288 is copied twice. Haha. I looked at it and said to my self, "Hey, this page looks quite familiar."
-- Andre
"But beauty in nature is not ultimate" I disagree with Nisi,I believe Emerson does believe nature is beautiful but we have to look beyond its beauty. "not ultimate" meaning, not the furthest, deepest point. I think he is trying to say That again, we just must look beyond the term beauty in order to realize the more important meanings.
"Truth, goodness, and beauty are but different faces of the same All." Simply, i think Emerson is trying to say that beauty is just one aspect of a person and it takes a lot more than external beauty to make your sole at one with nature. Also, i stopped at the end of this sentence to notice he had capitalized the letter A in All. I think when he refers to "different faces of the same All" he means God and his characteristics, so he capitalizes A to show respect for God. I believe he refers to God because in the sentence before, he says God is the all-fair and i think he is continuing with that idea. This sentence then means that God, the almighty creator of nature, produces not only beauty but truth and goodness.
"It must stand as a part, and not as yet the last or highest expression of the final cause of Nature." Emerson goes against much popular belief in society, even today, that beauty is of most importance. There must be other aspects of a person in order to make them stand out. In fact, i think Emerson thinks of beauty as a superstitious term.
One more thing i realized while reading is that Emerson thinks of Nature and God as the same. He switches the use of both terms. Nature being the last word in the passage is capitalized. However, he does not capitalize it when referring to nature before, but i think he does it in the end to show the importance of Nature.
I agree with Kristin on the part where she says "All" is synonymous to God.
Emerson claims "Truth, and goodness, and beauty, are but diffrent faces of the same All." He means that different aspects of God are highlighted as baing beauty, truth and goodness. I think what Emerson is trying to say about beauty is that beauty is only one aspect of nature, and that the elements of "truth and goodness" can serve to be beauty in diguise-meaning that truth and goodness can mean beauty also. He is trying to say that instead of just looking directly and only for beauty in nature, we should try to look beyond that' for truth and goodness; for other things besides just beauty standing alone. Yes, beauty is important to everyone, but Emerson is trying to say that beauty should not be interpreted in only one way and that beauty is not the only thing our souls should yearn for in nature. We must not fail to neglect the aspects of nature that consists of "goodness and truth."
I believe that Emerson is saying that beauty is something that has no concrete definiation. It basically like nature. We read today that nature cannot be explained completely and that it it just the face of god. So is beauty. I also believe that Emerson says that the soul searches for beauty. When he says that "..the soul to satisfy the desire of beauty", he means that the human soul and spirit tries to find that beauty in nature but it comes in maay different faces and is "not ultimate". Beauty is something that also enhances the nature aorund us ans makes it easier to connect with.
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