DIALECTIC ON THE VALUE OF ART:
G: Art is the most valuable commodity that a society has.
D: People are more valuable.
G: People simply exist. I am concerned with what people create, and art is their most valuable creation.
D: Life is their most valuable creation.
G: What kind of life?
D: Children.
G: Why are children so important?
D: They are the future of our species.
G: Is child-rearing just as important as the children themselves?
D: Raising a child appropriately is crucial.
G: How do we teach our children how to live?
D: By example.
G: So we only teach them how to act by how we act?
D: No. But it's the best way.
G: So our children should be wonderful at making war.
D: Probably everyone is good at making war - it is a basic instinct.
G: So how do we teach our children to deny evil instincts?
D: We show them how we deny them - by teaching patience, goodwill, concern, compassion.
G: Isn't art capable of depicting the noble actions of man? If our instinct is to kill, maybe art can teach us peace.
D: I don't know if art has the ability to change people who are violent by nature.
G: If men are indeed vile creatures, isn't it the place of art to depict that vileness, to expose it as reprehensible? Or to describe the possibility of nobility and goodwill?
D: It is the place of art to depict whatever is in the soul of the person who creates it.
G: So art is reflection of the soul?
D: Pure art is.
G: So pure art is indeed very valuable, if we are interested in our own souls.
D: Yes.
G: Does art not then play an important role in the teaching of our children?
D: In some instances it does... it has an essential function in the education of our children.
G: So life, i.e. children, is the most valuable thing a society has; and art plays an essential role in the development of life. So is it fair to say that art is the most valuable thing a society has, since children are part of that society?
D: Art is an essential product of society.
G: Could you live without it?
D: Yes.
G: Would you want to?
D: No.
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