On Beauty and Being Just

now holds an endowed chair of philosophy at Harvard University. That sentence alone would be enough to frighten people away from this book on several grounds. First, what do those kind of people know about anything? Second, anyone outside of those kind of people themselves probably can't even read a book she wrote, much less understand it. I was trained and taught in the humanities, and I admit that some of our tribe do write books that are unintelligible to almost everyone else, and don't matter to almost everyone else. Elaine Scarry is not one of those kind of humanities scholar, and this is not one of those kind of books.*On Beauty and Being Just* is divided into two parts: “On Beauty and Being Wrong,” and “On Beauty and Being Fair.” The first part is mostly about beauty itself, and begins by explaining how beauty inspires us both positively and negatively. Referencing Simone Weil, as she does throughout the book, Scarry explains that beauty inspires education, which is part of her overall argument that beauty inspires us to create, and this is generative. According to Scarry, the key features of beauty are fourfold: sacred, unprecedented, lifesaving, and incites deliberation. These are just some highlights of this part of the book. One part I found very interesting was her discussion of the problem of undercrediting, which leads to the failure of generosity.The second part of the book does indeed connect beauty with justice. The fact that she starts out with a discussion of how considerations of beauty have been banished from the humanities over the last few decades should not dissuade one from going on; I found this to be the least satisfying part of the book. Her argument that beauty does help lead us to justice—and that distinction is a crucial one—I find both compelling and comforting, even if, as some have claimed, its not exactly a powerful argument. Here too, in parallel to the first part of the book, she explains something every important to her argument, namely, the concept of fairness. Following John Rawls here, Scarry explains that fairness implies a symmetry of relationship. I found a lot to think about in her explanation of the concepts and problems of lateral disregard and adjacency. Then going back to Simone Weil, Scarry delves into Weil's idea of radical decentering.It is easy to understand why some might find the connection between beauty and justice hard to make, though I think she does make it, and here is where I really enjoyed this book. And I realize that others may not be able to appreciate it the same way I do. Like Scarry, I have a particular fondness for trees and birds and other natural wonders; authors don't design their book covers, but the older illustration of birds' eggs on the cover of my little paperback is perfect. Scarry is absolutely right to point out that, despite the natural connection between beauty and the just, there is one great difference between them. Beauty exists in nature. To take a position Scarry might or might not agree with, natural beauty was around long before humans came into the world, and would still be here if humans all left or disappeared. Justice is different. Whenever and wherever and however it comes about, justice is always a thing made by humans. And that brings Scarry back to John Rawls, who distilled an idea expressed by many others going all the way back to Socrates, the idea or argument that we have a duty to justice. In other words, we have a duty to do what we can to make justice, to foster justice, to create institutions that will lead to justice.*On Beauty and Being Just* is a small and slim volume, and it did not take a long time to read. As I said before, all the references to the natural world, as well as the illustration on the cover, made the book very enjoyable. And I have to say I really loved her extended discussion in the first part that included lots of Scarry's own sketches based on the artwork of Matisse and the confession of her own under-crediting and failure of generosity regarding palm trees. There were a few places where I didn't quite “get it,” but that happens to me a lot, and says more about me than about her. This book originated in an endowed lecture series, and it shows that. Yes, she does throw out the names of a lot of authors and some of their works, but most of us have heard of most of them, whether we have read their works or not. I know I'm going to be looking into some of these authors and works, and that's a good thing.In fact, I bought this book because I read a reference to it in a blog, and thought it would be a good one for me to read based on my desire to learn a lot more about justice. I did learn more about justice from reading this book, and I really enjoyed reading it. There is more, of course, than I sketched out above, and I hope more people will be reading it in the years to come. It is, as I have come to read it, just over a decade-and-a-half old. It is a good read today, and I think it will be for a long time to come.*On Beauty and Being Just* helps us to better appreciate the beauty around us, at the same time as it gently schools us in our obligation to further justice. It may even help some of us to better emulate Simone Weil's call for radical decentering.Beauty's Call to Justice, Which is our Duty

This book preaches an ideal beauty, rather than beauty as it actually operates in the world. It inspired a fair number of thoughts; the arguments are quite nifty although not entirely clear on first reading. --Alexander Graden Kalamaroff

Meaty and meaningful content that’s worth the price of admission, but that price of admission is a clunky read.

This can be slow going unless you are into philosophy but well worth the effort.Wish I could have attended the lectures.Who knew that history and appreciation of beauty could be so intertwined.

The book is in a good condition, the former owner drew a few notes on the book, apart from that, the book is in a nearly brand new condition. It is a good book.

I love this book. The author does not get bogged down in trying to define beauty, rather she simply asks that we acknowledge that it exists, and ponders what happens in front of beauty. It's a brilliant move, and allows the book to really take off. Beautifully written too.

Not easy reading and about the first I have tried on this topic. But slowly getting through this short book.

The book is brand new when I received it. The pages and covers look clean and flat, and they are nicely made.

Had to read this for a philosophy class... although I liked her message... she takes so long to get to the point and adds too many fluff words

This is a fine book, a reflection on Beauty. It's full of profound insights, written with deceptive simplicity... a joy to read.

Llegó en buen estado pero no traía el plástico protector que usualmente traen los libros nuevos

Great product as advertised.

The inside is ok, but the outside is marred beyond acceptable levels given the explanation of the condition initially noted.