Talk:Aesthetic Realism/temp

(Note from TS): I added below the language we have discussed and, I believe, agreed to already. I'm leaving alone, however, whatever is here just in case I'm mistaken.

Aesthetic Realism is the philosophy founded in 1941 by the American poet and critic Eli Siegel (1902-1978). It is now taught by a faculty of consultants at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation in New York City. According to Aesthetic Realism "the purpose of life is to see the world in the best way" and this can be accomplished by learning how the world has an aesthetic structure of opposites in oneness. Contempt, the desire to lessen the world in behalf of oneself, is seen by Aesthetic Realism as the root source of both personal unhappiness and injustice throughout society. While the purpose of Aesthetic Realism is to describe the nature of the world, those who study it have credited it with many postive changes in their lives--including improved marriages, ending alcoholism, better parenting, and resolving personal difficulties such as eating disorders and stuttering. In the 1970s Aesthetic Realism was widely known for the statements that many men and women studying it had changed from homosexuality to heterosexuality

NOTE from Arnold Perey: I think this is much better. But perhaps some slight changes would strengthen it. I'll boldface what I think might be better, and wait for your comments.

Aesthetic Realism is the philosophy founded in 1941 by the American poet and critic Eli Siegel (1902-1978). It is now taught by a faculty of consultants at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation in New York City. The purpose of Aesthetic Realism is to "encourage people to see the world all through their lives in the best way they can." and this can be accomplished by learning how the world has an aesthetic structure of opposites in oneness, such as freedom and order, rest and motion, for and against. Meanwhile, contempt, "the addition to self through the lessening of something else," is seen by Aesthetic Realism as the root source of both self-dislike and injustice throughout society, including unjust wars. While Aesthetic Realism describes the nature of the world, those who study it have credited it with many postive changes in their lives--including improved marriages, better parenting, and resolving personal matters such as eating disorders. In 1955 the Terrain Gallery opened, making the Aesthetic Realism explanation of beauty more widely known to the art world and the public in the decades that followed. In the 1970s Aesthetic Realism was best known, perhaps, for statements by many men and women studying it that they had "changed from homosexuality to heterosexuality." In 1973 the Aesthetic Realism Foundation was founded, which, through classes, and public seminars and theatrical events, continued making this philosophy known.

Note--"ending alcoholism" is an idea opposed by Alchoholics Anonymous who very prudently feel alcoholism never can be called "ended." So I think that should be deleted.

I think stuttering can also be omitted here--to avoid a list of difficulties that is a bit daunting. I think just the mention of eating disorders will get the idea across.

I also suggest we save the homosexuality for later in the article, in a strict chronology. However, as you see, I've left it here in case of strenuous disagreement. Mr. Siegel always saw it as a surprising byproduct of the study of how to see the world in the best way...but never central to that study. However, the public was more interested in that change than in the explanation of beauty in art!

In fact, Aesthetic Realism was never "widely known" as TS suggests. (The press never once reported on the change from homosexuality; the "fame" was mostly word of mouth, following the TV appearances and the few ads, and it never reached the proportion of Eli Siegel's first fame in 1925).

My most radical suggestion is the last sentences, in which the change from homosexuality (if it must be in the 1st paragraph, which I deny) is placed with a few of the other ways Aesthetic Realism has become known. To a gay activist or a psychologist, I'm afraid it might stand out above everything else. But to the general public, it is quite submerged.

{The above would replace the following: TS} Aesthetic Realism is the philosophy founded in 1941 by American poet and critic Eli Siegel. According to Aesthetic Realism "the purpose of life is to see the world in the best way", which involves appreciating the duality of nature and avoiding contempt. The philosophy is taught by consultants at the Aesthetic Realism Foundation in New York City. In the 1970s it was known for the statements made by many men and women that they had changed from homosexuality to heterosexuality through studying Aesthetic Realism.

Philosophy

Aesthetic Realism is based on four basic concepts: "(1) Every person is always trying to put together opposites in himself or herself. (2) Every person in order to respect him- or herself has to see the world as beautiful or good or acceptable. (3) There is a disposition in every person to think we will be for ourselves by making less of the outside world. And (4) All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves."

[need explanation of contempt]

Description in the "The Dictionary of Psychology"
A philosophy and a method of therapy based on three points: (a) a person should learn to like the world; this calls for (b) the understanding of the aesthetic oneness of opposites; and (c) the greatest danger is to have contempt for the world.
Raymond J. Corsini (2002). The Dictionary of Psychology, 24. Google Print. ISBN 1583913289 (accessed June 16, 2005). Also available in print from Psychology Press (UK).

AP replies--About the definition. Corsini has a direct quote from Eli Siegel in his earlier (1981) book Handbook of Innovation Psychotherapies (Wiley & Sons). I'm glad the definition is there in his Dictionary, but I think this is much more descriptive. I'm quoting from Chapter 2, "Aesthetic Realism,"

Aesthetic Realism is a philosophy, founded by Eli Siegel (1902-1978), who defined it in these words:

Aesthetic Realism is a way of seeing the world and oneself that says: One, the purpose of everyone is to like the world; Two, the way to like the world and the things in it is to see both as the aesthetic oneness of opposites; Three, the greatest danger for a person is to have contempt for the world and what is in it, despite their aesthetic structure. [Corsini, page 18]

Corsini, Raymond. Handbook of Innovative Psychotherapies, John Wiley & Sons. New York: 1981 (pp. 18-31)

Note from AP: The Aesthetic Realism Foundation suggests that after reading the above definition of Aesthetic Realism, please ask questions.

One definition of contempt given by Siegel in The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known issue no. 1114 is: "Contempt is the addition to self though the lessening of something else."

PS: There is a timeline of the history of Aesthetic Realism (1945-81) in it, taking up almost 2 pages, and a short history which answers pretty nearly all of Willmcw's questions. Chaim Koppelman's book This Is the Way I See Aesthetic Realism describes the origin of Aesthetic Realism lessons in Eli Siegel's poetry classes (1938-41). Perhaps I can scan the Corsini timeline and upload the image to Wikipedia? Or type out a summaries from Koppelman, etc.? -- --Aperey 17:12, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

AR & Poetry

[This section doesn't seem to add much in the way of direct explanation of the philosophy (sorry -Willmcw)] [Can you sign your comment? Why don't you think it adds much? What would you like to see? At this point, I think it's pretty important, but would like to know why you don't think so. And if the way it's expressed could be better done, I'd like to know. -- --Aperey 21:50, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)]

[Let's work on the actual definition of AR in the section above. That cuts out the first sentence of this section. Then we can use Siegel's quote (we don't need to know where from) and the first lines of his poem. The rest after that talks about Siegel's poetry, not about AR, The final sentence might be brought up and made into the topic paragraph. Thus:

Aesthetic Realism states that the world and all that is in it can be seen poetically. Whatever we may meet--whether fortunate or unfortunate--we can be proud of how we see it. Siegel explains why poetry is needed for this: “Poetry, like life, states that the very self of a thing is its relations, its having-to-do with other things. Whatever is in the world, whatever person, has meaning because it has to do with the whole universe: immeasurable and crowded reality.” (p. xi).

Followed by a few lines of poetry. I think that tightens it up. -Willmcw 22:54, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)]

--Yes, I think that might do it. The quote is from Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana: Poems. But there is also the problem of how to see the ugly, the unjust, the horrible--can we see it in a way that has us proud of ourselves? Aesthetic Realism says that poetry provides a means to learn how to do this. In her classes, The Aesthetic Realism Explanation of Poetry, Ellen Reiss discusses just how poetry can teach us how to see the world. --Aperey 16:56, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The purpose of Aesthetic Realism is to enable an individual to see more meaning in the world and other people--including those different from oneself in skin tone or otherwise. In the Preface to his poetry collection Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana: Poems, Siegel explains why poetry is needed for this: “Poetry, like life, states that the very self of a thing is its relations, its having-to-do with other things. Whatever is in the world, whatever person, has meaning because it has to do with the whole universe: immeasurable and crowded reality.” (p. xi).

And so, the title poem begins,

Quiet and green was the grass of the field,

The sky was whole in brightness,

And O, a bird was flying, high, there in the sky,

So gently, so carelessly and fairly…

...and goes on to Europe, Singapore, Voltaire, Helvetius, the year 1755 and more. And, “all are to be known.” “Hot Afternoons” is a hymn to relation, the poet has explained--it opposes isolation, the separation of ego.

What cannot be seen aesthetically? he asks. In his poetry, e.g., events in the Civil War are given form in a classic sonnet; Dylan Thomas is told of in free verse -- (“I am still for the honesty in you, which had such a hard time”); and the dark uncertainty of love is symmetrically expressed in rhymed couplets of iambic trimeter. Because the world and what's in it can be seen poetically, Aesthetic Realism states, whatever we may meet--whether fortunate or unfortunate--we can be proud of how we see it.

[The above is fine by me. TS]

History of Aesthetic Realism

[This whole section should be thrown out and start from scratch. Let's take the info from Reiss' quote and then add whatever other history we can.

While the Hot Afternoons contains aspects of AR, the first description of the philosophy came in 1941, when Siegel published two essays that described the AR view, "The Equality of Man" and "The Scientific Criticism."

That's about all that I see worth keeping here. Anyone else? Next we should describe how Siegel started to offer classes and consultations and the opening of the ARF. That gets us into the mid-1950s. Anything interesting between then and 1971? As for the "great respect and hate", that should come in the "Objections" section unless we want to handle that section differently. Can we wait on that? -Willmcw 23:28, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)]

[Also fine by me. TS] [I think that's good too. However, the suggested sentences have the chronology confused. -- --Aperey 20:38, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)]

AP says: I have been working on a new history section, beginning with what Reiss wrote in The Modern Quarterly Beginnings and adding from the Corsini timeline and several other references. This gets in how Siegel began classes, how he began giving lesson, how consultations began, and how the point of view to art developed among the public and the art world--despite an astonishing blackout by most of the press of any reference to this philosopher. What I gathered is probably much too long and needs cutting. But here goes:

Note: I cut and pasted in the new paragraphs on the change from homosexuality in their chronological place--we have to see how it works. I also changed excoriated to criticized. One sentence really isn't true--uses a quote that doesn't exist--so I took it out. Anyway, our most recent thoughts suggest that it ought to go with objections: "The Aesthetic Realism Foundation claimed that the press "were trying to make more of themselves by making less of Aesthetic Realism"." I used the phrase of Corsini instead of the single term in quotes, "changing" -- as follows: ""changing homosexuality to heterosexuality" -- And I added, for clarity's sake, the following sentence suggested by by what TS wrote in his comments in Talk: "On the one hand, it did not say homosexuality was "evil" or a "sickness." on the other hand it did not say homsexuality was "biological" and could not change. This position...." -- AP

(I hope I am placing all this in considerate locations so it can be most easily read and edited. --AP)

HERE GOES:

Suggestions toward History of Aesthetic Realism

Ellen Reiss, appointed Class Chairman of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation faculty by Eli Siegel, discerns the beginning of Aesthetic Realism in Siegel's 1922-1923 essays (including "The Equality of Man" and "The Scientific Criticism")and his poetry, including the 1924 poem “Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana.”

In the Baltimore Sun (2 February 1925) Siegel explained: “In ‘Hot Afternoons’ I tried to to take many things that are thought of usually as being far apart and foreign and to show, in a beautiful way, that they aren’t so separate and that they do have a great deal to do with one another.” The key concept of Aesthetic Realism, “The world, art, and self explain each other: each is the aesthetic oneness of opposites,” arises directly from this.

Beginning in 1938 Siegel taught poetry classes with the concepts of Aesthetic Realism as their basis. Of these classes artist Chaim Koppelman wrote: “Opposites in poetry, such as freedom and order, personal and impersonal, both in technique and subject matter, were related to opposites in the world and opposites in a person.” Students of Siegel asked him to give individual lessons in which they could and learn to see their own lives in relation to poetry. These were the first Aesthetic Realism lessons (1941). “The method does things to people of a most discernible kind,” wrote Siegel. “It has helped to organize lives.” [Preface, The Aesthetic Method in Self-Confict]

In 1942-3 Eli Siegel wrote Self and World explaining the philosophic basis of Aesthetic Realism. In 1944 his first series of philosophic lectures on the basis of Aesthetic Realism was given. In 1945 he completed Definitions, and Comment defining 134 terms needed for a philosophic outline of reality, including Existence, Change, Fixity, Freedom, Thought, Will, Wonder, Fear, Hope, Negation, Reality, and Relation.

In 1955 the Siegel Theory of Opposites--so termed by his students--was presented in the publication Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites? by the Terrain Gallery.

By 1969 artists and students of music had formally extended the Siegel Theory of Opposites to include discussions of photography, acting, painting, printmaking, and music. Aesthetic Realism: We Have Been There by six working artists who write on their own craft was published. Wrote the Library Journal: "Heraclitus, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, and even Martin Buber have posited contraries and polarities in their philosophies. Siegel, however, seems to be the first to demonstrate that 'all beauty is the making one of the permanent opposites in reality'." (1 September 1969) [3] (http://www.definitionpress.org/WHBT-Review-LJ.htm)

In 1971 four four men [names?] appeared on the nationally-aired David Susskind Show to say, "We have changed from homosexuality". That same year they published their stories in The H Persuasion, which contained a transcript of the earlier WNDT (Channel 13) Jonathan Black interview and personal narratives by each author. More publicity came in 1975 when Tom Snyder interviewed another four men who had changed. Ads titled "Yes, We Have Changed," with the names of 50 men and women ran in the New York Times. Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. The ads criticized the press for conspiring to keep "this beautiful news from you".

In 1971 Aesthetic Realism consultations began, in which the Aesthetic Realism method used by Eli Siegel in lessons was the basis: the self explained as an aesthetic situation. See “Aesthetic Realism; or, Is a Person an Aesthetic Situation? From 1971 to 1990 Aesthetic Realism offered consultations to men, women and children; including persons who wished to change from homosexuality to heterosexuality.

The idea of "changing homosexuality to heterosexuality" fed into in an increasingly public and heated debate where Aesthetic Realism did not agree with positions taken by others. On the one hand, it did not say homosexuality was "evil" or a "sickness." On the other hand it did not say homsexuality was inevitable, "biological," and could not change. This position generated ill-feeling towards the philosophy and the foundation. In response, the Aesthetic Realism Foundation discontinued this aspect of the philosophy's study in 1990, stating that in such an "atmosphere of anger" calm philosophic discussion of homosexuality was not realistic and that, in any event, the subject itself was not "central to the study of Aesthetic Realism." The Aesthetic Realism Foundation did not disavow the statements of the men and women who said they had changed from homosexuality through its study, but it also reiterated its position that it is for full civil rights for everybody, including homosexual persons.

---This is as far as I got.-----Aperey 20:38, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

References:

Koppelman, Chaim. This Is the Way I see Aesthetic Realism, Terrain Gallery & Definition Press: New York, 1969 (p. 2)

Siegel, Eli. The Aesthetic Method in Self-Conflict. 1941, 1946.

Siegel, Eli. Self and World: An Explanation of Aesthetic Realism, Definition Press, New York: 1981.

Siegel, Eli. Definitions, and Comment: Being a Description of the World,' in The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known.

Siegel, Eli. Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites? Terrain Gallery, New York: 1955.

Siegel, Eli. “Aesthetic Realism; or, Is a Person an Aesthetic Situation?” A Short Explanation Given by Eli Siegel in an Interview with Lewis Nichols of the New York Times Book Review, 14 January 1969.

Review of Aesthetic Realism: We Have Been There in the Library Journal, 1 September 1969.

Ellen Reiss, who was appointed Class Chairman of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation faculty by Eli Siegel, discerns the beginnings of Aesthetic Realism in the early essays by Siegel--as well as his poetry--reprinted in The Modern Quarterly Beginnings of Aesthetic Realism (1922-1923). Two essays setting forth the Aesthetic Realism way of seeing people and literature are: "The Equality of Man" and "The Scientific Criticism." Siegel's writing and lecturing in behalf of social justice, for a just way of seeing people, and against the narrowness of ego, were lifelong.

Explains Reiss: "In the decades that followed, persons of the press and the various establishments were furious at the respect that his thought and the complete integrity of his life made for in them. Press persons boycotted him and his lifework because he would not butter them and because they saw [this respect] as an interference with their conceit and the power they were after" (pp. 8-9).

[It would be better to have a quote from Ellen Reiss describing the dual response to Aesthetic Realism -- the great respect and also the anger at that respect. She has written about this and the above paragraph needs more balance. It's too negative--it's a bit out of context. I can help with this ----Aperey 21:41, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC) ]

Some others do not agree. They say: This pattern of blaming others when they do not agree with the doctrines of Aesthetic Realism persists to this day; disagreements are never honest differences of opinion, but rather attributable to ill-will, anger, or base motives on the part of those who make the mistake of disagreeing with a teacher of Aesthetic Realism.

[The above paragraph is much too general. No examples are given. It really can't stay as it is, can it? If so, pease explain? -- --Aperey 21:47, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)]

Change

[There are a lot of problems with the above paragraph. I have some ideas about how to fix them --Aperey 21:21, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)] [What are the problems? What are your ideas? Thanks -Willmcw 21:32, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)]

Well, here's a shorter and dryer paragraph using a standard reference--I think it's more encyclopedic in tone:

In 1971-90 Aesthetic Realism was perhaps best known for what Raymond Corsini calls its “success...in changing homosexuality to heterosexuality.” Written by four men who said in 1971, "We have changed from homosexuality" on the nationally viewed David Susskind Show, The H Persuasion appeared that year. It contained a transcript of the earlier WNDT (Channel 13) Jonathan Black interview and personal narratives by each author. In 1975 the Tom Snyder Show also interviewed four men who changed. In 1978, 50 men and women placed an advertisement to that effect, titled "Yes, We Have Changed," in the New York Times. In 1979 the ad was repeated in the NY Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times.

Reference: Raymond J. Corsini, Handbook of Innovative Psychotherapies (John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1981)

Aperey 22:08, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

We've already covered "known", so let's be more direct. (I also added in the post 1980s stuff into a second paragraph)

From 1971 to 1990 Aesthetic Realism offered consultations for those who wished to change from homosexuality to heterosexuality. In 1971 four four men [names?] appeared on the nationally-aired David Susskind Show to say, "We have changed from homosexuality". That same year they published their stories in The H Persuasion, which contained a transcript of the earlier WNDT (Channel 13) Jonathan Black interview and personal narratives by each author. More publicity came in 1975 when Tom Snyder interviewed another four men who had changed. Ads titled "Yes, We Have Changed," with the names of 50 men and women ran in the New York Times. Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. The ads accused the press of conspiring to keep "this beautiful news from you". The Aesthetic Realism Foundation claimed that the press "were trying to make more of themselves by making less of Aesthetic Realism".
The idea of "changing" homosexuality fed into in an increasingly public and heated debate where the AR did not agree with positions taken by others. It generated ill-feeling towards the philosophy and the foundation. In response, the Aesthetic Realism Foundation discontinued this aspect of the philosophy's study in 1990, stating that in such an "atmosphere of anger" calm philosophic discussion of homosexuality was not realistic and that, in any event, the subject itself was not "central to the study of Aesthetic Realism. The Aesthetic Realism Foundation did not disavow the statements of the men and women who said they had changed from homosexuality through its study, but it also reiterated its position that it is for full civil rights for everybody, including homosexual persons.

However I'm not sure this is the right way to handle this. Do we want to handle homosexual change as a separate issue from the rest of the history? I am inclined to go with a straight chronology to the extent possible, but I'm open to being convinced otherwise. (I just swapped in TS's suggested text for the second paragraph, with some changes of my own.) -Willmcw 23:39, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)]

[If the above paragraph stays, I would suggest "the ads criticized the press for keeping "this beautiful knoweledge from you." Otherwise I like the paragraph above. However, I tend to agree with Willmcw that handling homosexual change as a separate issue is not the preferable way to go. It was always one aspect for a much wider study. TS]

From 1971 to 1990 Aesthetic Realism was known for its attempts to attract students by advertising statements by those who claimed they had "changed from homosexuality" by studying Aesthetic Realism. The H Persuasion: How Persons Have Permanently Changed From Homosexuality Through the Study of Aesthetic Realism With Eli Siegel appeared in 1971, following the appearance of four men who said they had "changed from homosexuality" on the nationally viewed David Susskind Show. Advertisements with testimonials of these remarkable claims appeared in popular media outlets such as The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post in 1979, with the participation of the Foundation. The ads excoriated the press, which (the ads stated) had conspired to keep "this beautiful news from you". The Aesthetic Realism Foundation claimed that the press "were trying to make more of themselves by making less of Aesthetic Realism". A second book on the subject, The Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel and the Change from Homosexuality was published in 1986. In 1990, the Aesthetic Realism Foundation issued a statement that it had discontinued "this aspect of the school's study" because of what it described as the "atmosphere of anger surrounding the subject" which "made impartial, philosophic discussion of Aesthetic Realism itself difficult." [1]. The Foundation did not disavow assertions (made in the publications mentioned above) that homosexuality was unethical and selfish, prefering simply to try and drop the matter. The attempt to promote Aesthetic Realism as a means of dealing with homosexuality had failed due to an unanticipated backlash.

[The above paragraph is the one I take many exceptions to and hope will go! TS]

The idea of "changing" homosexuality had drawn Aesthetic Realism into controversy, where it did not really agree with either side in an increasingly public and heated debate on this issue, and which generated ill-feeling towards the philosophy and the foundation. In response, the Aesthetic Realism Foundation discontinued this aspect of the philosophy's study in 1990, stating that in such an "atmosphere of anger" calm philosophic discussion of homosexuality was not realistic and that, in any event, the subject itself was not "central to the study of Aesthetic Realism.

The Aesthetic Realism Foundation did not disavow the statements of the men and women who said they had changed from homosexuality through its study, but it also reiterated its position that it is for full civil rights for everybody, including homosexual persons.

[The above paragraph is more like it! TS]

Aesthetic Realism Foundation

The Aesthetic Realism Foundation is the school in New York City that teaches the Aesthetic Realism philosophy. It was founded by students of Eli Siegel in 1955. He visited the Aesthetic Realism Foundation only once--in 1978 shortly before his death, when he attended a public presentation there--preferring to continue teaching classes for its faculty from his home on Jane Street. Since Eli Siegel's death in 1978, Ellen Reiss has been its academic head and teaches these professional classes for consultants and those who wish to become consultants at the Foundation. Ellen Mali, a former executive director, has since left the school and become a critic.

A faculty of 46 approved "consultants" now teach Aesthetic Realism to the general public through conducting classes, public programs and seminars, private consultations, and through the recorded lectures of Eli Siegel. Many of its faculty have blogs. It publishes books through Definition Press (other books about Aesthetic Realism have been published by Orange Angle press and Waverly Place Press) and the biweekly journal The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known, which has published over 1600 issues since its beginnings in 1973. Classes in a variety of subjects are offered throughout the week and students may enroll for as many or few as they desire. There are also seminars and public presentations of Aesthetic Realism offered to the public on a regular basis as well as privately scheduled consultations. The faculty and those studying to teach on the faculty attend the professional classes conducted by Ellen Reiss twice a week, on Tuesday and Friday evenings.

[I wrote what I knew and added it to the paragraph above. I can't answer what is asked below. It would be some job to count up the number of people who have studied Aesthetic Realism at some time or other in some fashion or another! I'm not sure that is even possible but I suppose Aperey would know. TS]

[AP replies--The above looks good to me. I don't think we need quote marks around consultants. I'd rather the word not be there than have a peculiarity attached to it. How about, "A faculty of 46 now teaches...."

As to the blank spaces below, there are no "daily meetings"--just the biweekly, etc., classes described above. Tuition is very modest. To enroll for one semester consisting of 7 classes (like the 90-minute anthropology classes I teach) costs $50. Auditing one class costs $8. See the class registration information online. As to the numbers studying across the years, or TRO subscribers, I don't know. I also don't consider it relevant if we want to convey the most important information about the philosophy. Corsini describes the number of people reached by the Aesthetic Realism Foundation as "thousands." Meanwhile, as always, the important question about Aesthetic Realism is, Is it true? --Aperey 17:58, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)

and currently has ____ subscribers. Since its founding the school has had ____students [do we have any statistics for how many students/subscribers/etc?] Daily meetings [?]. Tuition?

The Foundations' Terrain Gallery was founded in 1955 to show contemporary art and to make known the Aesthetic Realism understanding of the visual arts. Its basis was the Siegel Theory of Opposites: "All beauty is a making one of opposites, and the making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves." For its opening, the Terrain published Siegel's "Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites?", subsequently reprinted in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism and other sources both academic and otherwise. Artists from the 1950s on who exhibited at the Terrain included Larry Rivers, George Tooker, Rolph Scarlett, John von Wicht, Elaine de Kooning, Jim Dine, Roy Lichtenstein, Chaim Koppelman, Robert Blackburn, Astrid Fitzgerald. [2]

[I like the above. It is straightforward. TS]

Relation to Structuralism and other philosophies [hidden]

[This is very scholarly and interesting. It is up to everybody else doing the editing if it is too much for this article or should stay. I have no objections one way or the other, except that it does show the place of Aesthetic Realism in the ongoing flow of philosophic thought. TS]

Aesthetic Realism scholarship

Aesthetic Realism has been the basis for scholarly work in both the arts and sciences, including the work by anthropologist Arnold Perey, Oksapmin Society and World View; and by musicologist Edward Green whose paper, written with Perey, was published by the University of Graz in Austria's conference Proceedings "Aesthetic Realism: A New Foundation for Interdisciplinary Musicology". Papers were recently given at the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA) sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describing the Siegel Theory of Opposites in relation to painting, world art, and art education. One paper focused on the way the study of art can be a more effective means of opposing prejudice than ever. This was published in the Proceedings of InSEA, titled "Aesthetic Realism, Art, and Anthropology: Or, Justice to People" by Marcia Rackow and Perey. Huntington Cairns, Secretary of the National Gallery of Art, said "I believe that Eli Siegel is a genius. He did for aesthetics what Spinoza did for ethics." [3]

The new anthology, "Aesthetic Realism and the Answer to Racism", edited by Alice Bernstein, written by teachers and students from a multicultural point of view explores how effective the Aesthetic Realism way of seeing people is in understanding and defeating racism. Marguerita Washington, publisher of the Omaha Star, said of the book, "We can't have too much awareness of the inequality of the races. The approach of Aesthetic Realism is valid, exciting, and a benefit to the community."

Objections to Aesthetic Realism

Aesthetic Realism has attracted critics (see Aesthetic Realism is a cult).

In the 1970s and 1980s, stated Michael Bluejay [4], the Foundation claimed it had a "cure" for homosexuality: Study Aesthetic Realism, and homosexual feelings would go away.

Bluejay's position continues as follows: The Foundation promoted this view in two books as well as newspaper advertisements with the headline "We Have Changed from Homosexuality," with supposedly formerly gays and lesbians signing their names and asking to be interviewed by the press. Over the years a number of these success stories decided they were really gay after all and left. The Aesthetic Realism Foundation then re-released their first book on the topic, The H Persuasion (ISBN 091049214X) to omit the names of those who had fallen off the wagon. By 1986 they had to come out with a whole new book, profiling completely different people.

[Of course, my distaste for Michael Bluejay and his obvious misrepresentations make it hard for me to be objective about the above. Here's my try TS]

Aesthetic Realism has attracted critics. (see Aesthetic Realism is a cult} One of the more persistent critics, Michael Bluejay of Austin, Texas, whose mother once studied Aesthetic Realism, put up his own web site stating that his purpose is to show that Aesthetic Realism is really a cult. On his web site he placed great emphasis on Aesthetic Realism's position as to homosexuality, saying it claimed to have a "cure" for homosexuality. Bluejay stated: "The Foundation promoted this view in two books as well as newspaper advertisements." [note: since the books and ads are detailed above I don't think we need to name them again here, do we?]. He claimsed there was an inconsistency in Aesthetic Realism's position about homosexuality because the publications it released on the subject over the years featured different men and women and because some of those who said they had changed later discontinued their formal study of Aesthetic Realism.

Some Responses to the Objections

In response to these allegations that the foundation claimed to cure homosexuality Margot Carpenter of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation has written:

Aesthetic Realism never presented itself as having a “cure.” Not only does Bluejay misrepresent Aesthetic Realism on the subject, but he actually puts the word “cure” in quotation marks to make readers think he’s directly quoting some statement of Aesthetic Realism, when he is not.[5]

Bluejay....wants people to think that there is something hidden going on. So for the record, I quote the following statement by the Aesthetic Realism Foundation; it is what anybody inquiring about this matter has been told since 1990, and people have found it very clear:

It is a fact that men and women have changed from homosexuality through study of Aesthetic Realism. Meanwhile, as is well known, there is now intense anger in America on the subject of homosexuality and how it is seen. Since this subject is by no means central to Aesthetic Realism, and since the Aesthetic Realism Foundation has not wanted to be involved in that atmosphere of anger, in 1990 the Foundation discontinued its public presentation of the fact that through Aesthetic Realism people have changed from homosexuality, and consultations to change from homosexuality are not being given. That is because we do not want this matter, which is certainly not fundamental to Aesthetic Realism, to be used to obscure what Aesthetic Realism truly is: education of the largest, most cultural kind.

Aesthetic Realism is for full, equal civil rights for everyone. [6]

The Aesthetic Realism Foundation has pointed out that objections to the new have existed throughout history: "So it was with the great work of persons as different as Galileo and Keats, Darwin and Spinoza and Martin Luther King. And so it has been too in the history of Aesthetic Realism." [7] Williams called the objection to Eli Siegel's work "the extreme resentment that a fixed, sclerotic mind feels confronting this new." [8]

"The press boycott of Aesthetic Realism," writes the Aesthetic Realism Foundation, "is in process of change. In recent years, thousands of articles and letters about Aesthetic Realism and what it explains, many written by people who study and who teach it, have been published by newspapers nationwide and internationally."

Michael Bluejay lists as one factor for his objection to Aesthetic Realism that its proponents consider it the most important teaching, ever. He also discusses the fact that for many years the students and teachers of Aesthetic Realism wore buttons saying "Victim of the Press", because they objected that newspapers had not reported on the principles or findings of Aesthetic Realism, despite, they said, the considerable importance of these principles to aesthetics, the social sciences, and people's lives. Critics (or as Bready terms them, "belittlers" [9]) contend that the Aesthetic Realism's claim of a press boycott was a paranoid feeling of persecution, citing this as a central reason they label it a cult. In any event, supporters of Aesthetic Realism stopped wearing the buttons in the mid-1990s.

[This is my reworking of the objections section. I moved up the response about homosexuality from the Foundation to follow immediately upon the critics statements concerning it. I tried to make the rest of the statement NPOV, though it is hard to be neutral about statements I consider to be simply ridiculous. TS]

[The objections fall apart when the facts are looked at. I don't think it's my job to try to make them look more NPOV when the general reader will see they sound a bit off the wall in their present state. Further, the only objection to which the Foundation is given any specific response is some of Bluejay's misuse of language to make his point. And this gives him a kind of inflated importance. Can't we remedy some of this stuff? --AP]

References

Baird, Martha and Reiss, Ellen, eds. The Williams-Siegel Documentary. Including Williams' Poetry Talked about by Eli Siegel, and William Carlos Williams Present and Talking: 1952. New York: Definition Press, 1970.
Kranz, Sheldon, ed. The H Persuasion; How Persons Have Permanently Changed From Homosexuality Through the Study of Aesthetic Realism With Eli Siegel. New York: Definition Press, 1971. ISBN 03624331
Siegel, Eli. Self and World: An Explanation of Aesthetic Realism. New York: Definition Press, 1981.

External links

Timeline

1902 Birth of Eli Siegel
1925 "Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana" won the Nation Poetry Prize
1941 AR founded by Eli Siegel (How?)
1944 Siegel married Baird
1955 ARF & Terrain Gallery opened
1958 Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana: Poems nominated for a National Book Award
1969 Hail, American Development, a book of Siegel's poems, published
1971 David Susskind Show
1971 The H Persuasion published
1971 Beginning of homosexuality change presentations
1973 The Right of Aesthetic Realism to Be Known, first issue
1975 Tom Snyder Show
1978 Change ads in New York Times
1978 Death of Siegel
1979 Change ads in NYT, WP, LAT
1981 Self and World published
1990 ARF discontinued homosexuality change presentations
1990s Dropped Victim of the Press buttons

XXXX [I'm not sure of the date, but there was an academy award-winning anti-prejudice documentary film produced by Imagery Films based on a statement by Eli Siegel. It got wide public service circulation, including on the Armed Forces network, at Yankee stadium before every game for several years, and on various cable televison outlets including CNN Headline News.] [TS] XXXX [Again, I am not sure of the dates, but Harvard University included a presentation about Aesthetic Realism as part of a larger conference it was hosting. The details and date could be easily obtained from Aperey. ] [TS]

2002 City of Baltimore, Maryland erects monument to honor Eli Siegel in Durid Hill Park on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. Proclamations are issued by the governor of Maryland the mayor of Baltimore proclaiming the day "Eli Siegel Day" in the state and city. The Baltimore Orioles honor the occasion at Camden Yards prior to playing their game that evening. [TS]