ARISTOTLE

I'm in a facebook war of words right now over the amount of taxes paid by Warren Buffett's secretary. How do I get myself into these situations.

Aristotle VII:

"Again, a beautiful object, whether it be a living organism or any whole composed of parts, must not only have an orderly arrangement of parts, but must also be of a certain magnitude; for beauty depends on magnitude and order."

Would you look at that, this applies perfectly to design! WE provide the orderly arrangement of parts, and hopefully add some of the magnitude.

"As, therefore, in the case of animate bodies and organisms a certain magnitude is necessary, and a magnitude which may be easily embraced in one view; so in the plot, a certain length is necessary, and a length which can easily be embraced by the memory."

How something is able to be perceived is of equal importance to the thing itself? The comprehension of the viewer should be heavily weighed? Something?

Part VIII:

"For a thing whose presence or absence makes no visible difference, is not an organic part of the whole."

Only include what you need - everything should contribute to the overall "story," or be omitted.

Part IX:

"Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history; for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular.

I think design bridges the gap between the particular and the universal...or maybe doesn't bridge the gap exactly, but makes the connection?

"But again, Tragedy is an imitation not only of a complete action, but of events inspiring fear or pity. Such an effect is best produced when the events come on us by surprise; and the effect is heightened when, at the same time, they follow as cause in effect. The tragic wonder will then be greater than if they happened of themselves or by accident; for even coincidences are most striking when they have an air of design."

I just liked this passage. I think this is sort of expressing the idea of "poetic justice" - when there isn't necessarily a clear cause-and-effect situation, but seemingly random acts can be given meaning if viewed in a larger moral context. Whether the person screwed over "deserves" it in our eyes or not, a moral perspective gives it all some meaning beyond "mere chance."

Looking forward to the conversation and to refocusing on the world of degree projects. Funny how thrown off track I get in a mere 24 hours.