Benjamin Roseberry-Chesterton's Separation

"The odd thing about the dance is not that there is an Alhambra Ballet, and that serious people are annoyed at it, but that these serious people do not themselves participate in the Alhambra Ballet." - G. K. Chesterton

This quote seems to show such a division among the people of Chesterton's time. Van Der Leeuw lays out a few scenarios of how split human beings minds have a tendency to be. He says that, "We are musical or we are not; we are religious or we are not; we are concerned with economic affairs or we are not." I find this to be a true and very uneasy statement. I know of numerous cases where not only others, but I, myself, were aggressively and stubbornly opinionated and close-minded until participation in said activity took place. One example, kind of petty but nevertheless sufficient, is that of my emotions toward snowboarding. I have skied since I was 2 1/2 years old and, until a year ago, held a serious hostility towards snowboarding. Regardless of whether snowboarders themselves disliked or expressed animosity towards the sport of skiing, I was still being close-minded. Why? Because I actually had never tried snowboarding. The moment I strapped on the board and attempted what I once thought of as an inferior sport, I gained instant respect for not only the sport itself but also those who participate in snowboarding. I believe the quote from Chesterton is touching on this same issue, only perhaps on a larger scale. Van Der Leeuw's perspective on this matter in regards to art is written by Diane Apostolos-Cappadona stating that "subjectivity of the researcher is primary" and "to understand religious phenomena or the arts...the researcher must be affected by them." Essentially he is saying exactly what Chesterton is saying. They are telling individuals, humans, to take part in something before making a judgement about it (suspend judgement). This floods through all of American society and if this is true, I am convicted of a lot of judgements I have made without giving consideration. Subjectivity and experience is all part of having an open mind, something of which we all need more.

Katie Evering-Plato's Imitation

Plato's discussion on what is real and what can be seen as imitation is an interesting one to say the least. Plato discusses that only the true maker of objects is real in its natural form, i.e God because He is the maker of all things and the craftsmen who take God's creations and change its natural form into something of personal use (Plato used a bed and table) are simple imitators. Today imitation is a term with many meanings. An imitator is someone who has created an appearance of the truth. One use of imitation is negative, imitating what is considered "real" and making your own while claiming it as the "real" thing, example, anything you buy off a street vendor with designer labels at a "discounted" price, which if caught by authorities is illegal and could result in fines. While another form of imitation can be as use for entertainment, creating an imitation for personal use, another example, Tina Fey imitates politician Sarah Palin for a comedic result, while anyone can walk into a craft store and buy a Paint-By-Numbers, follow the given directions and they have an imitation of Dega, Picasso and other artists' popular works hanging above their fireplace. So in a sense Plato says that everyone is an imitator, but my question is there differentiating categories on imitators? Are some imitators better than others at their creations? And if so, who makes that decision?

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