The Moral Imagination -  Michael Matheson Miller
The Moral Imagination
Ep. 25: David Clayton: Beauty and the Cosmos
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Ep. 25: David Clayton: Beauty and the Cosmos

What is beauty? Does it have an objective character, or is it merely subjective and in the eye of the beholder? How do we experience beauty, and how do we communicate it to others. In this episode, I discuss the nature of beauty with David Clayton, a painter, iconographer, and author. We discuss the role of consensus and tradition, classical art, contemporary gallery art, popular and folk art, and sacred liturgy.

We discuss key characteristics of beauty including integrity, harmony, proportion, and clarity and the connection to mathematics and the cosmos. David explains musical octaves and ratios and how these relate to architecture and in sacred liturgy.

We talk about relationship between art and morality, good and bad art, and how to learn and create art that speaks to our times.

We discuss a number of thinkers including

  •  Aristotle

  • Augustine and Boethius on beauty and number

  • St. Thomas Aquinas

  • Roger Scruton

  • Dietrich von Hildebrand

  • St. Bonaventure and the idea of semiotic metaphysics

Biography

David Clayton an artist –a painter and iconographer — a writer, and the provost at Pontifex University where he runs graduate program on Sacred Art. He is the author of the book, The Way of Beauty, The Vision for You, The Little Oratory and more. David grew up in England and he studied material physics at Oxford before becoming a full time artist and teacher. We did this interview a while ago but you can find his latest work The Way of Beauty.com

Resources and Notes

Aristotelian concept of substance

We respond to things differently, yet  there is also broad consensus of what is beautiful.

We recognize nature is beautiful.

The Way tourists look at things, we see, it's not a random distribution of people going to random cities. People actually go to Florence,

Is beauty merely subjective: The question is what are we responding to?

Beauty is both objective and subjective. Wewe have a subjective experience of beauty,

Dietrich Von Hildebrand

  • Subjectively satisfying

  • Genuinely beneficial

  • Intrinsic value

Need for both shallow and deep. Not everything has be always the best—there is a place for folk and popular alongside classical and serious.

Decoration very important

See Carrie Gress and Noelle Mering: Theology of Home Volume 1 and Volume 2 —-Links Below

Listen to my interview with Carrie Gress on Theology of Home

Musical Octaves and Ratios

  • We see these ratios in buildings with windows Classical architecture versus brutalist architecture

  • Intuition of harmony

How do we understand beauty? What are the Characteristics?

Thomas Aquinas, definition of beauty pleasing when known, how do we understand beauty?

  • Due proportion,

  • Harmony

  • Integrity

Beauty—Meaning and Utility

  • Beauty has utility for man's soul

  • Science focuses on the efficient cause

  • Beauty and art point to the future –focuses on final cause

St. Bonaventure: Semiotic Metaphysics

  • Vestige

  • Image

  • Likeness

See Mind’s Journey To God in book link below

Roger Scruton: Essay “Faking It” See book link below  

Clayton: The success of the galley gallery to suspend judgment

Clayton Critque of Matisse et al— Colonialist —Romantic  model—condescending to Africans

The Play: ART

How do go about learning and creating art?

  • Immerse tradition you are drawn to — adopt a style you like —-work to master it and then create art that speaks to our contemporary times.

Sacred liturgy, the musical octave and the liturgical octave

  • Liturgy of the Hours 

  • 7 times a day and 1 time at night 

  • In the culture, cosmos, liturgy, pattern of living 

  • Influence of Boethius and Augustine 

  • Mathematics, Modernity, the value of modernity 

  • Joseph Ratzinger: The Spirit of the Liturgy— mathematics of liturgy —Pythagoras  Link Below

  • Augustine and Boethius 

  • Augustine always  referring to number 

  • Boethius: De Istitituione arithmetica-  10 proportion / De institutione Musica 

Links to Essays and Books

John Paul II: Letter to Artists

My essay on Scruton and McGilcrhist at Acton

The Way of Beauty: Liturgy, Education, and Inspiration for Family, School, and College

By Clayton, David

Buy on Amazon

The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home

By Clayton, David, Lawler, Leila

Buy on Amazon

Theology of Home II: The Spiritual Art of Homemaking

By Gress PhD, Carrie, Mering, Noelle

Buy on Amazon

Works of Bonaventure: Journey of the Mind To God - The Triple Way, or, Love Enkindled - The Tree of Life - The Mystical Vine - On the Perfection of Life, Addressed to Sisters

By Bonaventure, Saint

Buy on Amazon

AMAZON BLOCK

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The Vision For You: How to Discover the Life You Were Made For

By Clayton, David

Buy on Amazon

Confessions of a Heretic: Selected Essays

By Scruton, Roger

Buy on Amazon

Theology of Home: Finding the Eternal in the Everyday

By Carrie Gress, Mering, Noelle

Buy on Amazon

The Commentary on the De arithmetica of Boethius (Studies and Texts)

By Thierry of Chartres

Buy on Amazon

Discussion about this podcast

The Moral Imagination -  Michael Matheson Miller
The Moral Imagination
Welcome to the Moral Imagination Podcast.
The overarching theme of my podcast is what it means to be a human person and what makes for a meaningful and good life.
We will discuss philosophy of the human person, culture, religion, social philosophy, and many other related topics, like education, learning, economics, food, technology, artificial intelligence, and intellectual history. My goal is to interact with ideas and people whose work I find challenging, and intellectually and socially important.