Aesthetic Realism in the Press

The philosophy founded by Eli Siegel

Lake Champlain Weekly (Plattsburgh, NY) 10/12-18/05 

"The Spirit of America Lives at TICONDEROGA" by Harvey Spears

LAKE CHAMPLAIN WEEKLY (Plattsburgh, NY)... [W]hile attending a re-enactment of a Revolutionary War encampment and battle held at Fort Ticonderoga, my wife Carol and I were very moved as we saw men, women and children in the attire of eighteenth century America, commemorating one of our country's most important events—our great American Revolution. What made this event even more meaningful to us is the relevance we saw it has to people's lives today....During a commemoration service, the circuit preacher honored the meaning of the lives lost on September 11, 2001, and related this horrific tragedy to the hopes of persons early in our country's history. It had me see newly how urgent it is that people everywhere ask a question first articulated by Eli Siegel, founder of the education Aesthetic Realism: “What does a person deserve by being a person?"… > more

The Sun-Herald (Rocky River, OH) 6/3/04 

"Contempt can become a very dangerous thing" by Maureen Butler

THE SUN-HERALD  ...People want very much to understand how it is that young American men and women came to degrade and torture Iraqi people—with such obvious pleasure.... As a native of  Rocky River,  I want my fellow readers to know that the means of that understanding is in Aesthetic Realism... > more

"Contempt is the Beginning" by Carol Driscoll

WOODSTOCK TIMES. In the days since the revelations of the horrific abuses of Iraqi "detainees" at Abu Ghraib prison, a question often asked is: "How could this have happened?"... > more

"Contempt Must Be Studied for Mideast Terror to End!" by Ruth Oron, Harriet Bernstein, Zehava Fishman, Avi Gvili, Zvia Ratz, Rose Levy, Leah Shazar

CHICAGO STANDARD NEWS. As Israelis who love our country, we are ashamed of the brutality now being committed by our army under the current leadership. We join the global outrage, which includes thousands of Israelis and Jews around the world, in protesting...As we have written before — There is a solution to this vicious cycle of contempt! ... > more on the Aesthetic Realism solution

"Israeli Mother and Daughter Outline Keys to Peace -- An Open Letter" by Leah Shazar and Ruth Oron

NEW YORK BEACON. We are a mother and daughter who love Israel deeply and want her to fare well.... It breaks our hearts to see the pain and uncertainty in our land.  We can’t bear to see Israeli and Palestinian people, including so many children, being killed almost daily, when we know that the cause of war—contempt—has been explained by Eli Siegel, the great philosopher and historian."...> more on the Aesthetic Realism solution

"For a Safe World, a Sane World" by Miriam Weiss and Joseph Spetly

THE AFRICAN HERALD. Like people throughout America and the world, we are heartsick and deplore the massive and cold blooded acts that killed thousands of innocent men and women...But we also deplore and are terrified by the reckless cries for military retaliation, something that will only lead to more horrors and destruction, both in other nations and at home... > more

"Protesting the World War II Memorial" by Dale Laurin and Chaim Koppelman

THE OREGONIAN.  We are WWII veteran Chaim Koppelman and Dale Laurin, son of a veteran. We are now colleagues who study and teach Aesthetic Realism...We learned in our study with Eli Siegel, that every person has two desires: to respect the world we are born into, and to have contempt. Fascism was utter contempt, against beauty, life itself! This was a war nakedly between contempt for people and respect... > more