The Problem of Beauty

Never thought of beauty as a problem? Well, consider this: where does beauty come from? Beauty is defined in my dictionary as “that combination of qualities which is pleasing to the eye or ear." We often think of music and the visual arts as conveyors of beauty; the form and order of a musical composition or a sculpture are what makes for beauty. Disorder and chaos are not normally thought of as beautiful. We find beauty in nature because of the form and order that we see in it. The Grand Canyon or the ocean, an otter or a Gold Finch, have qualities that are pleasing to the eye. The chirping of a bird can be pleasing to the ear. The bursting colors and sounds of Spring are an annual highlight of natural beauty.

But, where did all this beauty come from? Is it a product of uncreated matter and uncreated energy? Or is there someone or something that created all things? This gets back to the syllogism of the second post:

1. If something exists,

2. something must be eternal, unless

3. something comes from nothing.

Since something quite obviously exists, there must be something (or someone) that is eternal. The best evidence suggests that the universe had a definite, if hard to pinpoint, beginning. What or who is the cause of the universe?

When we experience beauty in the arts, we can point to a creator of that beauty - an artist or composer. Doesn't it make sense that there is a creator of the universe, rather than believing that the world is the product of uncreated space, time, energy and matter?

One of the classic explorations of this issue is John Wisdom's invisible gardener. Wisdom taught at Cambridge University in England, and he posited two people finding a garden that had obviously been long neglected. The garden had observable form and order, but there were also weeds in it. One of the observers believed that there was an invisible gardener who brought form and order to the garden, while the other observer believed that no invisible gardener exists. Who is right?

When you observe the garden that is the universe, what do you see? Do you see order, form, human life, intelligence, morality and believe that there is a creator? Or do you see disorder in nature, human life and morality and believe that there is no creator? Maybe you can frame the questions better than I have here. Have at it!