Artistic and Philosophical Foundations: Arete

Artistic and Philosophical Foundations: Arete

I ran across the word “arete” while reading the outstanding book “Lila”, by Robert Pirsig. Mr. Pirsig is more well known for his previous book, “Zen in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. This word, arete, has been given to us from the Greek language. The dictionary definition is: excellence and virtue, especially in the full realization of potential, or inherent function of a person or thing.

Pirsig correctly identifies arete as a synonym for Quality. Quality is the centerpiece for both of his books, and he felt compelled to create a new category in philosophy he calls the Metaphysics of Quality.

The Metaphysics of Quality is the human attempt to understand Nature, and where we fit into the grand scheme of things. According to Pirsig, Nature has quality events, and these events can be one of two kinds: Static and Dynamic. He rejected the traditional divisions of reality: Subject and Object. This viewpoint would fit in very well with the Eastern, as well as other ancient and traditional philosophies, were there is the disappearance of the self.  To a state were there are no “illusions of separateness”, as used in the book “The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux”. And what many Buddhists would call “The Doctrine of Emptiness”.

Pirsig describes Static Quality events as being old and complex. There is always a component of memory and history to static quality. It is a conformity to fixed values and standards. Examples can be the moral forces of the priesthood, the laws of science, the theorems of geometry, the Circle of Fifths for Western music, and the rituals of Confucianism.

On the other hand, Dynamic Quality is a pre-conceptual event that is simple, new and unique. Unlike the static counterpart, there are no fixed and unchanging mores, patterns, or rules to follow. These dynamic qualities are in the realms of artistic, scientific, and spiritual creation. So people like Mozart and Bach, Da Vinci and Einstein, the Buddha and Laozi were occupied with these events of dynamic quality.

Pirsig in his explorations of Quality stumbled upon the Indo-European root morpheme of arete: “rt”. This smallest unit of meaning means first, created, beauty, repetitive order, and esthetic correctness. It is found in the English words “arithmetic”, “aristocrat”, “art”, “rhetoric”, “worth”, “rite”, “ritual”, and “right”.

Further on, Pirsig found that Sanskrit has a word, “rta”, that also has the “rt“ morpheme. It means the cosmic order of things, or the organizing force of the Universe. The Greek Stoic philosophers around 300 BC used the term “logos” to mean the divine principle that pervades the Universe. And perhaps more famously, logos is used in the beginning of the Book of John in the Bible’s New Testament.

Connecting this discussion of arete to the East, the Chinese near equivalent could be the word “de” (德), meaning virtue, morality, mind and heart. It forms part of the title of The Dao De Jing, the Laozi classic, and the foundation of Daoism.

Closely related is the Chinese word “meigan” (美感). It means aesthetic feeling and perception. A sense of beauty. To feel, sense, and be aware of beauty, as well as to feel grateful for, and to be affected by it.

Daoism, as expressed in the Dao De Jing, also describes Static and Dynamic Quality, using of course different words. In the very first chapter of this philosophical classic, Laozi delineates two aspects of reality he calls you (有) and wu (无). You literally means “to have”. The best translation of you is to say that something is existing within a structure, or it is Being-Within-Form. That is, it has form. It has structure; it is solid, manifest, perceptible and conceivable. It has Static Qualities. On the other hand, wu literally means “without”. Wu exists without structure or it is Being-Without-Form. It is empty, non-manifest, hidden, imperceptible and inconceivable. It is also beyond the structure of language. Both you and wu exist, it is just that one is manifest and is within form, while the other is not.

Some poetic examples of arete from both the East and the West:

…“Is the certainty of the reality and immortality of things, and
the excellence of things.
Something there is in the float of the sight of things that
provokes it out of the soul.”

“Leaves of Grass: Song of the Open Road”: Walt Whitman

*****

“This mountain sea-coast is real
For it reaches out far into past and future
It is part of the great and timeless excellence of things”

“A Little Scraping”: Robinson Jeffers

*****

“One light is left us: the beauty of things, not men;
The immense beauty of the world, not the human world.
Look–and without imagination, desire not dream—directly
At the mountains and sea. Are they not beautiful?”

“…The beauty of things means virtue and value in them.
It is in the beholder’s eye, not the world? Certainly.
It is the human mind’s translation of the transhuman
Intrinsic glory.”

“De Rerum Virtute”: Robinson Jeffers

*****

“–to feel
Greatly, and understand greatly, and express greatly, the natural
Beauty, is the sole business of poetry.
The rest’s diversion: those holy or noble sentiments, the intricate ideas.
The love, lust, longing: reasons, but not the reason.”

“The Beauty of Things”: Robinson Jeffers
*****

“Write letters slowly and carefully
Doing things well
Matters more than doing them”

“Proverbs and Songs XXIV”: Antonio Machado

*****

…“One original rule for painting and poetry:
Heaven’s powers are gifts into what is clear and fresh”.

“Written For Mr. Wang, Yanling’s Recorder, From His Painting of
Broken Branches: Two Poems”: Su Dongpo

*****

…”Once a person has integrity and the right energy; they can be sent into exile for a thousand li, and still move like the wind.”

“Huangzhou’s Kuaizai Pavilion”: Su Dongpo
*****

“Light breezes through delicate riverbank grasses
Single boat, in the evening raise the mast.
Stars near the vast and level open country
Moon rises on the wide river flows.

“Cherish Journal Writing”: Du Fu

*****

“Surprised my pillow and quilt so cold
Turn over to see the window and door has brightened.
Realize there was a deep snowfall during the night
Presently hear the sounds of snapping bamboo.”

“Evening Snow”: Bai Juyi

*****
“Spring lake vistas emerge like a painting
Thousands of bees hovering over the wide and flat lake
Pine trees up the mountain aligned neatly in rows, like overlapping
green emeralds
Moon adorns the lake center like one pearl.

Rice paddies a dark green carpet, each stalk top beginning to set grain
New cattail leaves unfold their verdant green gauze
Unable to go and abandon Hangzhou
Half of my stay here is to experience this lake.”

“Spring Lakeview Poetry”: Bai Juyi

*****

“Alone and tenderly love the shady flowering grasses along the creek side
Atop the deep trees the orioles sing.
Spring water levels rise, evening rains arrive suddenly
Secluded ferry crossing without anyone, boat moves back and forth naturally.

“Mountain Canyon Seasonal Creeks West of Chuzhou”: Wei Yingwu

*****

…”Deep bamboo forest, bamboo shoots intertwine
An arbor of vines, tips strong and extending beyond the frame.
Swallows seek holes to build their nests
Bees come to make hives of honeycomb.
All of this splendor and radiance can be enjoyed
In all four seasons the fragrances of budding flowers.

“Summer Days, Dharma Master Bian Yu’s Thatched Hut and Vegetarian Diet”:  Meng Haoran