DANIEL S. writes:

I was reading several essays by the late philosopher Josef Pieper (perhaps my favorite philosopher of the twentieth century) about art and music tonight, which can be found in his book Only the Lovers Sing: Art and Contemplation. His observations are ever timely, and I thought I would summarize a few of his ideas and observations that stood out to me.

In one essay, entitled “Learning How to See Again” he speaks of modern man’s ability to see (with his inner eye) as falling into decline. He says this is clearly attached to man’s persistent “restlessness and stress,” but even more to the fact that “the average person of our time loses the ability to see because there is too much to see!” In the age of mass media, it certainly requires no effort to understand the shallow, often nihilistic, over-stimulation that Pieper mentions.

In such a time of mass media and consumerism, the philosopher asks how can man “preserve and safeguard the foundation of his spiritual dimension and an uncorrupted relationship to reality?” He does suggest something of a way out of modernity’s madness and a return to true seeing. He says one should abstain and fast, as much as one can, from the conduits of mass media (i.e. stop watching so much television). But he doesn’t stop at the passive, and offer a positive, dynamic, spiritual response: “be active oneself in artistic creation, producing shapes and forms for the eye to see.” An engagement of art causes man to authentically perceive reality on a constantly fresh basis. It is in participation with true art that man corrects and increases his ability to see says Pieper:

[T]he artist will be able to perceive with new eyes the abundant wealth of all visible reality, and thus challenged, additionally acquire the inner capacity to absorb into his mind such an excessively rich harvest. The capacity to see increases.

I  hope to summarize more of his thoughts soon.

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