Single Idea 23899

[catalogued under 21. Aesthetics / A. Aesthetic Experience / 4. Beauty]

Full Idea

A just blend of unity and that which opposes it is the condition of the beautiful, and it is the secret of art.

Gist of Idea

The secret of art is that beauty is a just blend of unity and its opposite

Source

Simone Weil (The Scientific Image [1941], p.169)

Book Reference

Weil,Simone: 'Late Philosophical Writings' [Notre Dame 2015], p.169


A Reaction

Rather sweeping, but the observation strikes me as fairly accurate. It seems to work for most novels, paintings and music, though more recent art may provide counterexamples.