Shannon and Joseph come from two completely different backgrounds. Shannon Christie is from a wealthy family, she does not have to work and is educated. Joseph is a hard working scrappy lad, who is dedicated to helping his father work the land that they rent from the wealthy Christies. Joseph has no idea who these wealthy Christies are until an accident happens and Josephs father is mortally wounded when the landlords come to claim rent for the Christies. Joseph determined to right the wrong done to his father sets out to avenge him by confronting the wealthy landlord Christie. He ends up being discovered in a barn and stabbed with a pitch fork in the leg by the surprisingly scrappy Shannon. She sees him as a way out to a more modern place, America.
The scene with the hat takes place after they come to America, Shannon and Joseph have a fresh start at the American dream. Joseph becomes a boxer, and makes a good amount of money. This does not seem to impress Shannon, she was already smitten with the poor dirty scoundrel that passed out in her barn, but she won’t let Joseph know that. However she’s not coy and asks him at one point “do you think I am pretty?” to which Joseph says “you are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my whole living life.”
Aesthetics is the set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty, especially in art. When viewing art there are many different styles: impressionism, realism, surrealism, and others. The principles that make something aesthetically pleasing would have certain criteria. Some like things that are symmetrical the sense of balance pleases the viewer. Others like bright colors or colors that bring out specific emotions such as satiety or comfort. Others may find beauty in simple things that take away the complexity of the world.
Immanuel Kant describes aesthetics in his work Critique of Judgment which in the work attempts to determine whether the faculty of judgement provides its basis in a priori principle. Meaning are we judging items that we view because categorically we “know” what a flower looks like, and the particular flower that “appears” to us is judged a priori.
Judgement according to Kant is subsumption of a particular item under a universal. Shapes for instance, or contours of landscape. The faculty of understanding is that which creates these universals, and reason is what draws inferences, then judgement is a product from reason and the initial understanding of the universals, which leads to aesthetics.
“Say you like my hat!!”
Author: admin
Obviously my interests include philosophy. I think thinking and thought are the beginning of every great thing. It’s how we understand and perceive the world. Periodically I’ll change things up and blog about something math or computer science related or even a blog about mythology. I am not political, trendy, or savvy, but I do like a good story. That is why I try and find a movie clip that hints or encompasses what I want to blog about. Sometimes the relevance is there, sometimes it’s a reach and I just really love the movie that I put in the post. The intent and purpose of my blog is to make you think, make me think and together our thoughts can be shared in a collection of material.