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UGLYBEAUTY

                                           December  2, 2003


       If the ethical is
       esthetic at root         DESPERATE

          How do you deal                        PRETTY_TRUE
          with that?

          What implications
          does it have?
                                   Is there any difference
                                   between esthetics/aesthetics?
   Is there a                      It's just a new and old form, right?
   compulsion to
   do what is                        The Toadkeeper joked
   esthetic?                         about this, making me
                                     wonder if I've missed
      An ethical                     a distinction.          Maybe the joke
      compulsion?                                            is that the
                                                             difference is
                           ROUND_AND_ROUND                   only esthetic.
  The meta-eval problem.
                                                                Or aesthetic.
  Evaluating systems of        METHODICAL_PARADOX
  evalutations.

  How do you decide if an
  ethic and/or an            Pretty clearly: to talk
  aesthetic is "good"?       this way presupposes
                             some existing standard.

      What function do                  This may be okay:
      they serve?                       it is not possible,
                                        (nor does it seem
      The function of a                 desireable) to
      manifesto is to                   fabricate a set of
      provide guidance                  abstract values
      in the face of                    without reference
      chaos.                            to humanity.

      It's a stabilizer...                 The way we
                                           speak of it
      Intent is to encourage               often suggests
      you to maintain a given              a logical
      direction in the face of             edifice, a
      (hopefully) superficial              body of law
      obstacles.                           rooted in         The will of god;
                                           something else.   Human nature;
          The opposite of                                    The mathematics
          "adapatibility"                  A "category       of strategy
                                           mistake"?
          Which is a clear                                        FALSE_CENTER
          sign that you can                    Another way out:
          overdo these things.                 we tend to assume
                                               that all logical
          Somewhere in there,                  structures must
          there's a need for                   be hierarchical.
          "balance", much as I
          hate such wishy-washy                      There are other
          conclusions.                               possibilities...

          Adaptive stability?                              RECURSIVE_DEFINITION
                                    Rescue failure
                                    with paradox.

                                         Re-state the
                                         contradiction
                                         as a hidden wisdom.

                                                METHODICAL_PARADOX

  There's a
  trap here:

  If beauty is the only
  real criterion then at
  least some will try
  for a beautiful evil.

Undermining conventional
morality can become a
justification for the
immoral.
                                The invisible hand
   In the beginning             an excuse for turning
   was the act.                 a blind eye.

   Do as thou wilt.                The True Knowledge
                                   of MacCleod's          THE_TRUE_KNOWLEDGE
   Nietzsche beget Nazis,          "Cassini Division".
   though he would have
   disowned such children.
                                NIETZSCHE

         And in my own terms,
         these outcomes from
         attempts at defining
         a new morality
         are unaesthetic...

            There are ugly beautys.

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