We are proud to publish online this groundbreaking work by Eli Siegel, the founder of Aesthetic Realism. In it, he defines and comments on more than 130 words, including Desire, Success, Aesthetics, and History. Richly philosophic, what he writes is exciting, powerfully logical, often humorous, and always enormously important for our lives. In the Preface, he explains:
“The purpose of these definitions is to have reality seen more clearly by having the opposites in reality seen more clearly—which is also more kindly, truly, and usefully.”
The definitions, Mr. Siegel says, “should be seen as arising one from the other.”
They were first published in 1945 in an edition for students of Aesthetic Realism, and the text used here is essentially the text of then.
Preface by Eli Siegel
Table of Contents
Alphabetical List of Definitions
Part I
- 1. Reality
- 2. Aesthetics
- 3. Thing
- 4. Thought
- 5. Mind
- 6. Object
- 7. Pleasure
- 8. Pain
- 9. Motion
- 10. Matter
- 11. Form
- 12. Substance
- 13. Essence
- 14. Change
- 15. Cause
- 16. Effect
- 17. Relation
- 18. Truth
- 19. Feeling
- 20. Desire
- 21. Instinct
- 22. Will
- 23. Emotion
- 24. Hope
- 25. Fear
- 26. Liking
Part II
- 27. Reason
- 28. Knowledge
- 29. Science
- 30. Metaphysics
- 31. Existence
- 32. Goodness
- 33. Power
- 34. Life
- 35. Motive
- 36. Nature
- 37. Largeness
- 38. Smallness
- 39. Number
- 40. Space
- 41. Time
- 42. Past
- 43. Future
- 44. Present
- 45. History
- 46. Simplicity
Part III
- 47. Complexity
- 48. Slowness
- 49. Speed
- 50. Certainty
- 51. Happiness
- 52. Surprise
- 53. Art
- 54. Work
- 55. Labor
- 56. Play
- 57. Humor
- 58. Poetry
- 59. Word
- 60. Syllable
- 61. Sound
- 62. Alphabet
- 63. Language
- 64. Irony
- 65. Negation
- 66. Inclusion
- 67. Warmth
- 68. Chemistry
- 69. Physics
- 70. Direction
- 71. Purpose
- 72. Regret
- 73. Honesty
- 74. Efficiency
- 75. Energy
- 76. Spontaneity
- 77. Freedom
- 78. Actuality
- 79. Possibility
Part IV
- 80. Process
- 81. Duty
- 82. Appreciation
- 83. Ecstasy
- 84. “I”
- 85. Shame
- 86. Society
- 87. Wonder
- 88. Romance
- 89. Joining
- 90. Aspect
- 91. Seriousness
- 92. Courage
- 93. Grammar
- 94. Adjective
- 95. Verb
- 96. Adverb
- 97. Softness
- 98. Hardness
- 99. Structure
- 100. Having
- 101. Kindness
- 102. Religion
Part V
- 103. Clearness
- 104. Effort
- 105. Release
- 106. Classification
- 107. Narrative
- 108. Finding
- 109. Literature
- 110. Interest
- 111. And
- 112. If
- 113. Should
- 114. Winning
- 115. Intelligence
Part VI
- 116. Belief
- 117. Eagerness
- 118. Comparison
- 119. Uniqueness
- 120. Meeting
- 121. Going
- 122. Decrease
- 123. Individuality