Classical Essence: Part 2
What is the True, the Good, and the Beautiful?
By Dr. Brandolyn Thran, School Leader, Nevada Classical Academy Elko
In Part 1 (Feb 2025) we discovered that “classics” are of the highest order, things to be considered the standard. From there, let’s move to the next step where we consider what is the true, the good, and the beautiful and why this triad, or the transcendentals, is so highly valued. The transcendentals endure the test of time. It is the ability of humans to pursue such things that makes humanity great and how we maintain a high view of man.
Humans have been on Earth for thousands of years and, despite the radical revolution
of society, industry, and technology, fundamental human nature has not changed. The battle between self and selfless rages on as much in the 21st Century as it did in previous centuries. Once upon a time, only the elite had the luxury of time to ponder such thoughts; most of civilization was more worried about their next meal than what was true, good, or beautiful. John Levi Martin’s research, published in 2017 in a journal titled “Reconstructing Social Theory, History, and Practice”, determined the first documented use of this phrase was in 1727 by a Saxon poet associated with a “fundamental restructuring of the understanding of the excellences and faculties.” The transcendentals’ next appearance was in 1761 by Rousseau when he replaced Socrates’s phrase kalos kagathos, a Greek term that generally describes “an ideal of gentlemanly conduct”. From there, the usage picked up steam, and many writers began to interpret the triad.
Fast-forwarding to how the true, the good, and the beautiful impacts us in Elko, Nevada, my hope is that your first thought is a question, or to wonder “how do we know what is true, good, and beautiful?” That is a wonderment we can, and I would argue should, spend our entire life answering. In your pondering, I encourage you to remember to be gentle on yourself and others, as this path of discovery is not simple, easy, nor necessarily straight. Allow your mind to embrace the state of learning, holding loose to journey, allow me to offer the following thoughts on the meaning of the words from the 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language.
Truth. That is a loaded word today, and I embolden you to begin your investigative thinking about truth as that which is not personal preference or popular consensus. Truth is devoid of emotion or opinion. Truth is conformity to fact or reality.
Good. Next, good can be thought of as that which is able to accomplish that which it was created for. It is something that is complete or sufficiently perfect in its kind; having the physical qualities best adapted to its design and use. In addition, good encompasses the presence of moral qualities best adapted to its design and use. Like truth, as a transcendental, it is not an emotion.
Beauty. Finally, where there is truth and goodness, there is beauty. Beauty is the assembly of graces, that which is pleasing to the senses, difficult to define, and held in the eye of the beholder.