Advocates of assisted suicide, both here in Massachusetts and around the globe, often claim that they are fighting for the right to "die with dignity." But they say little about the right to "live with dignity."
Each year, too many terminally ill people choose to end their lives willfully and with a prideful sense of autonomy in order to prevent the inevitable ordeal of physical and mental decline. Many of these people act out of fear of the unknown and a refusal to accept the inevitable. Death and what follows will always be a mystery to us. We will always fear it or, if we are people of faith, embrace its promise. Yet accept its reality we must. And there are different ways of doing so.
What is the nature of beauty? How do we recognize it in the fine arts? Although 20th century artistic trends shunned depictions of beauty that had endured for millennia, most people still recognize it when they see it or hear it.
The word aesthetic comes from the Greek word aisthesis, meaning perception and discernment through the senses and intellect. So, the senses and intellect simultaneously intuit and discern the attributes of an object. There is an immediacy to beauty: anything that requires detailed explanations from experts to prove its artistic merit probably has very little of it. Aristotle said, "The beautiful is that which is desirable in itself." Aquinas added, "The beautiful is that which when seen pleases."
