Appreciative Realism is an approach whose starting point is that there is a reality, that both appreciates and can be appreciated.
CHOICE
You have the power to decide whether your next action is revenge for an evil of the past, or a seed for the good of the future.
Appreciating Justice Part 1
Justice
If people’s actions are pre-determined, then how can they be praised as good, or condemned as evil? And how can we fairly reward or punish?
Oh, but people have free will? So, if that is the case, we have the freedom to make the right or wrong choices.
Or, perhaps things are not that binary? Maybe people have freedom up to a point? if so, perhaps what we should reward is maximising the value of choices relative to the degree of free choice someone has as a result of their circumstances.
But, that seems a bit too complicated?
Maybe, but it could become easier, as circumstances themselves become more just, and more understood.
Appreciating the Value of Solitude
“Without great solitude, no serious work is possible” – Pablo Picasso
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” – Blaise Pascal
Appreciating Roy Bhaskar
Roy Bhaskar was a lovely human, who I had the joy of being taught by, a long time ago.
He founded the philosophical movement of Critical Realism, which is a strong influence on Appreciative Realism.
More will follow here, but as a starting point to find out more about Roy and his work and ideas, please see https://roybhaskar.wordpress.com/what-is-critical-realism/
Appreciating the Art of Ordinary Life
A while ago, while exploring ideas around simplicity, I came across a video entitled “Why an Ordinary Life Can be a Good Life“, by The School of Life.
A key segment of the video celebrates the work of the 17th century Dutch painter Vermeer, and his work based on ordinary daily life in Delft, including the 1658 masterpiece The Little Street.
Later that day I saw a TV segment about a young black South African artist, Dada Khanyisa, also known as The Mighty Whale. Dada’s work is superficially very different from that of Vermeer, but both powerfully celebrate the everyday life, both its mundanity and its transcendent beauty, what “people neglect or take for granted” in Dada’s words.
Two Mighty Artists of our extraordinary ordinary lives.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHVZVCbicTg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kfeWpLry3U
https://themightywhale.co.za
Appreciative Realism 