Leo D.M.J. Aurini - The Imperative of Beauty [Requested Video]

00:00:00.000 Thank you.

00:00:30.000 So this is part one of a two-part video request where I'm going to be responding to the documentary Why Beauty Matters by Roger Scruton.

00:00:43.200 And I strongly recommend that you watch this for yourself, the documentary.

00:00:47.100 There's apparently some issues with the image rights in it, but if you look around online, you will be able to find it.

00:00:53.220 Now, the subject matter of the documentary is the philosophy of beauty and the importance of beauty.

00:01:04.980 And I think the best way that I can review the film is simply to respond to it in my own way.

00:01:12.060 And so this video, The Imperative of Beauty, is about one aspect that really stood out to me in this film.

00:01:22.440 So Professor Scruton, early on in the film, he says,

00:01:30.780 if you'd asked anybody before the 17th century, what is the point of beauty?

00:01:39.220 They would have looked at you and said, what's the point of truth, of goodness?

00:01:48.480 They don't have points.

00:01:50.340 They just are.

00:01:51.200 And I thought that was a very interesting breakdown.

00:01:57.520 Because for a lot of us, certainly for myself at least, the reason I got into the alternative media,

00:02:08.240 into alternative politics, the reason I've been so passionate about,

00:02:15.620 the things I've been passionate about for so many years now, is truth.

00:02:21.880 It became evident to me at a very young age that most people out there just weren't concerned with the truth of their beliefs or their statements.

00:02:36.900 They were trying to say what was convenient or what they'd been told to say or what was politically correct.

00:02:45.620 They had never actually examined their beliefs and see, you know, to see if these actually fit together.

00:02:54.660 Do these actually work?

00:02:56.460 Do my stated values and my actions, do these things line up with one another?

00:03:02.220 Because it should go without saying that if you don't have an understanding of what you're doing,

00:03:08.360 if there isn't an appreciation of truth informing your motivations, then you are doomed to failure.

00:03:18.260 You know, if you don't know how you're fixing your car, you're not going to fix the car.

00:03:22.940 You're not just going to serendipitously fall into success if you don't know what you're doing.

00:03:28.060 You're just going to be muddling along.

00:03:29.460 And sadly, a lot of people do that.

00:03:34.880 You know, maybe because they don't have time to examine all their beliefs.

00:03:38.200 Maybe because they don't want to risk the social cost of examining their beliefs.

00:03:44.140 Maybe they're just not that intellectual.

00:03:46.300 But most people seem to have very confused beliefs.

00:03:50.660 They are not embracing truth in their lives.

00:03:54.760 Then, well, truth isn't quite enough.

00:04:05.640 Because one thing you start finding if you pursue the truth,

00:04:10.600 well, as my one philosopher friend likes to say, 0.99

00:04:14.640 truth is a reason is a whore. 1.00

00:04:17.000 She gives anybody a ride. 0.99

00:04:19.700 And you can use truth for very ugly purposes.

00:04:23.340 You can use truth for cruelty.

00:04:26.240 Often the most vicious barbs are true, but very uncharitable.

00:04:32.060 Truth on its own isn't enough.

00:04:35.080 Science can build a new system of agriculture or can build an atomic bomb.

00:04:42.460 In addition to truth, you need goodness.

00:04:45.220 You need to be looking upwards and pursuing that which is worth pursuing.

00:04:53.620 It's not enough to just be true to yourself and true about what you're doing and what your motivations are.

00:05:00.680 You also need to make those motivations good.

00:05:04.040 You need to become good yourself.

00:05:07.360 You need to be embodying goodness as best you can.

00:05:10.440 Because so many people, whether they're operating by pretty lies or even if they're operating by stark truths,

00:05:22.940 they wind up falling into evil, into very vicious forms of hatred, very self-destructive forms of hatred.

00:05:33.520 I mean, if you take any of these school shooters and talk to them,

00:05:39.820 chances are there's going to be quite a bit of truth coming out of those mouths.

00:05:44.280 But no goodness.

00:05:47.580 You take these various people that have subscribed, that have been writing black pill blogs, 0.78

00:05:53.460 or, you know, you take somebody like Elliot Rodgers with the PUA hate crowd,

00:05:58.920 and you look at them and they say a lot of things that are very, very true.

00:06:05.480 But it's just so dark and evil how they interpret that truth.

00:06:10.200 So, you need the good.

00:06:12.900 If you just use reason,

00:06:15.180 well, you end up with the endless autistic fighting 0.99

00:06:20.660 that you get in a lot of internet communities.

00:06:25.780 A lot of circular, angry, destructive fighting.

00:06:29.520 All of it which is true, but none of it.

00:06:33.000 None of which is good.

00:06:39.600 And see, if you pursue the good,

00:06:42.700 if you try and do good,

00:06:45.000 if you try and pull people back from the brink of destruction,

00:06:50.220 if you try and help other people,

00:06:52.840 it's absolutely exhausting.

00:06:56.460 And you get to the point where you can know what the good thing is,

00:06:59.820 but you just don't have the energy for it anymore.

00:07:06.000 And so, in addition to truth and goodness,

00:07:08.240 you need beauty.

00:07:08.940 Because beauty is that which nourishes the soul.

00:07:16.060 Beauty is that which fills you when you're empty.

00:07:21.460 Beauty is what comforts you.

00:07:24.380 And the sad thing is,

00:07:25.840 we are so lacking in beauty in our world.

00:07:30.920 I mean, prettiness is everywhere.

00:07:33.640 Okay, prettiness is wallpaper. 0.98

00:07:38.500 Prettiness is elevator music. 0.96

00:07:40.760 Prettiness is, you know,

00:07:42.580 the exact same beat and chord progression

00:07:44.960 that you've heard on every single song on the radio

00:07:47.380 for the past 20 years.

00:07:49.640 We are awash in prettiness.

00:07:53.800 More prettiness than ever before.

00:07:55.780 And yet we have so little beauty.

00:08:08.140 A medieval peasant 0.89

00:08:09.640 didn't have the amount of luxury and prettiness

00:08:15.340 that we have in our world today.

00:08:17.500 But the medieval peasant,

00:08:21.380 he went to church.

00:08:24.340 He appreciated the profound tragedies,

00:08:28.080 the beauties within the Gospels.

00:08:32.300 And while he didn't have great material wealth,

00:08:36.960 he did take care of his environment.

00:08:39.280 He had the possibility

00:08:40.300 to create beautiful artifacts

00:08:42.840 to surround him.

00:08:44.740 Now, beauty isn't easy.

00:08:51.480 It isn't easy to create.

00:08:53.420 And it isn't easy to behold.

00:08:57.660 Beauty challenges us.

00:09:00.880 It forces us to see the world in a new way.

00:09:05.020 The same way that truth,

00:09:06.700 truth challenges our preconceptions.

00:09:09.160 It doesn't allow us to believe

00:09:10.700 whatever we want to believe.

00:09:11.860 It forces us to believe whatever is true.

00:09:16.100 And goodness says that your petty greed

00:09:20.240 and your envy and your bile,

00:09:23.520 that, no, that's no excuse.

00:09:26.540 The petty, ugly things inside of you 0.84

00:09:28.780 are no excuse.

00:09:31.160 Goodness calls you to a higher standard.

00:09:33.500 And beauty encapsulates both of those.

00:09:43.940 Beauty forces you to see truth,

00:09:48.560 but also goodness.

00:09:51.260 The painting of a human being

00:09:56.940 and being able to see the beauty in them,

00:10:01.900 even an aged human being,

00:10:04.380 taking an aged face,

00:10:06.640 maybe a face that's been worn with worry,

00:10:10.220 maybe one that's joyful,

00:10:11.440 but forcing you to see

00:10:15.320 what the artist saw

00:10:17.340 and see the beauty in that face.

00:10:19.640 That's not easy.

00:10:21.740 Pretty is easy.

00:10:23.540 And pretty is everywhere.

00:10:25.320 But beauty,

00:10:26.760 beauty is something more.

00:10:28.500 It's difficult, challenging.

00:10:30.240 It's even painful

00:10:31.160 at times.

00:10:33.260 Isn't it interesting?

00:10:36.500 Isn't it interesting

00:10:38.180 how these spiritual experiences

00:10:41.640 mimic physical experiences?

00:10:49.160 Ode to joy is downright painful.

00:10:53.000 The same way a hot shower

00:10:57.380 can be painful

00:10:58.900 or disinfectant can be painful.

00:11:03.260 But it nourishes you.

00:11:06.060 It challenges you.

00:11:07.480 It hurts you.

00:11:08.760 But it nourishes you.

00:11:12.680 Truth and goodness without beauty

00:11:14.760 are nothing.

00:11:17.360 They're a stark,

00:11:19.960 cold, marble building.

00:11:23.680 Beauty is what ultimately gives it meaning.

00:11:26.560 And see,

00:11:33.080 if we don't have beauty in our lives,

00:11:34.720 if we try and subsist

00:11:36.540 on prettiness

00:11:38.040 or subsist merely on

00:11:41.320 goodness and truth,

00:11:42.980 without beauty,

00:11:44.620 we will fail

00:11:45.820 because our souls hunger

00:11:48.100 for it.

00:11:49.440 Our souls need more.

00:11:51.300 So,

00:11:55.220 gentlemen

00:11:56.760 and ladies, 0.99

00:11:59.420 surround yourself

00:12:00.520 as much as possible

00:12:02.300 with beauty,

00:12:04.120 not prettiness.

00:12:05.560 Make the time

00:12:06.620 to appreciate

00:12:09.320 the beautifully written word

00:12:11.640 or the beauty of a painting

00:12:15.300 or classical music.

00:12:17.120 Find that space

00:12:18.900 in your day

00:12:20.200 to have a beautiful

00:12:22.460 experience.

00:12:24.500 Even if it's just experiencing

00:12:25.860 the beauty of nature

00:12:26.840 when you're walking.

00:12:28.280 But experience it.

00:12:29.620 Open your eyes to it.

00:12:31.500 Let it hurt you

00:12:32.380 because you need

00:12:34.160 to hurt.

00:12:35.380 You need that cleansing

00:12:36.680 wound

00:12:37.660 that only beauty can give. 0.62

00:12:40.360 Because if you don't,

00:12:41.360 if you don't have that,

00:12:43.120 you quickly burn out.

00:12:44.660 You become cynical.

00:12:45.600 You become jaded.

00:12:51.380 We need beauty

00:12:52.500 in our lives, folks.

00:12:54.220 So,

00:12:54.660 go out there

00:12:55.560 and find some,

00:12:56.680 find some beauty

00:12:58.200 to put into your life.

00:13:02.900 Thank you very much

00:13:04.220 for sponsoring this video, brother.

00:13:07.200 And, folks,

00:13:08.540 I would remind you,

00:13:10.040 when you pay for something,

00:13:12.660 you're the customer.

00:13:13.420 when you're getting it

00:13:16.120 for free,

00:13:16.800 you're the product.

00:13:19.120 And I'm sure you know,

00:13:20.220 you all know about

00:13:20.780 this demonetization

00:13:21.700 on YouTube,

00:13:22.480 the changes

00:13:23.820 that are happening.

00:13:24.920 I ask that,

00:13:26.440 if you can,

00:13:27.880 you support me

00:13:28.540 over on Patreon

00:13:29.280 for $1 a month.

00:13:32.020 Less than a cup of coffee

00:13:33.060 and you get some

00:13:34.140 exclusive content

00:13:35.180 when you do.

00:13:36.360 Link down below

00:13:37.440 to my Patreon.

00:13:39.440 Thank you for watching

00:13:40.380 this video.

00:13:42.180 And,

00:13:43.140 deus volt,

00:13:45.020 Arini out.

00:13:45.680 I'll see you next time.

00:14:15.680 you,

00:14:17.420 and...

00:14:31.060 ...

00:14:32.320 ...

Leo D.M.J. Aurini - June 20, 2017

The Imperative of Beauty [Requested Video]

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript