ABSTRACT
The understanding reached in the resolution of ‘The Never-shared Meaning Paradox’ in chapter 5 also helps to explain what we can and cannot say about beauty. It is revealed that beauty is a subjective appreciation of the reconciliation of an objectively arranged form. As was found in our discussion of meaning in the earlier chapters, beauty must therefore remain outside the realm of commentary. What can be discussed, however, are the objectively arranged forms that give rise to beauty. In this final chapter, although strictly speaking outside the scope of this book, it becomes possible to tender an explanation for the strong historical links between spirituality and the arts. Reconciliation as realised in balanced equivalent relationships is revealed as the primary driving force not only of the arts but also of the sciences. The chapter ends with examples of such reconciliation taken from both sides of C P Snow’s cultural divide.
