Aesthetic Realism, from the work of Eli Seigel

A primary concept of Aesthetic Realism is that the world can be liked honestly by seeing it as an aesthetic oneness of opposites.  The ethics Siegel taught—"the art of enjoying justice"—includes this definition of good will: "The desire to have something else stronger and more beautiful, for this desire makes oneself stronger and more beautiful.”  Good will is necessary, he stated, for a person to like him– or herself: "This desire is the fundamental thing in human consciousness.”

1.  The deepest desire of every person is to like the world on an honest or accurate basis.

2.  The greatest danger for a person is to have contempt for the world and what is in it .... Contempt can be defined as the lessening of what is different from oneself as a means of self-increase as one sees it.

3.  All beauty is in making one of the opposites.  The making one of opposites is what we are going after in ourselves. Cognitive dissonance becomes harmony.