Aesthetics: When beauty and morality meet on the path of education

Source: A stubborn and rebellious son: When ugliness reflects morality

The eating of a stubborn and rebellious son, who is put to death only for the disgraceful meal he ate, as it is stated, "a glutton and a drunkard" (Deuteronomy 21:18). From the oral tradition (=the tradition) they learned that a "glutton" is one who eats meat ravenously and a "drunkard" is one who drinks wine ravenously.

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Rebels, Chapter 7, Halacha 1; Image: "The Boy with the Wine Bottles" (Rue Mouffetard, 1954) by Henri Cartier-Bresson)

Explanation: Early education: Teaching beauty before all else

Jewish tradition established that the Torah never intended to decree a death penalty for an ill-mannered child, but this is an opportunity to discuss: who is an educated child? Maimonides begins by describing the uneducated child, and that is a child who behaves in a way that is not beautiful, who eats in an ugly manner.

Perspective: Beautiful and ugly: Our everyday language of morality

Beauty has become a general judgment on morality—a "beautiful deed" or an "ugly deed," as well as a "very beautiful" grade on a chemistry exam, or an insight or speech that is "beautiful." Ugliness points to disorder, neglect, and a lack of attention. Beauty, on the other hand, points to responsibility, care, and goodness. Jewish law rules that a son who does not observe the Torah and the commandments is not "liable to death"; only one who behaves immorally—that is, not beautifully—is. Primary education is an education in aesthetics, according to Maimonides.

Going Deeper: Gluttony as a sin: From the Talmud to the Christianity of Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages, formulated the seven deadly sins according to Christianity in his book Summa Theologiae (Italy, 13th century) (see the Wikipedia entry Seven deadly sins). One of the sins is gluttony, associated with the ancient deity Beelzebub, the god of decay and death. Gluttony is swinish, hedonistic, ugly, and decadent eating. Just like the Babylonian Talmud and Maimonides, Aquinas after them describes this sin as punishable by death, and like the Talmud, Aquinas clarifies that this is not a physical death penalty, but the death of the soul.

Culture: Dorian Gray: When beauty conceals ugliness

According to Wikipedia, entry The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde's book, The Picture of Dorian Gray (Philadelphia, 1980), tells the story of Dorian, a young man who sells his soul in exchange for eternal youth and beauty. Dorian's beauty concealed corruption, acts of ugliness, and exploitation, and his innocent look was a cover for cunning and depravity. Through Dorian's exploits, Wilde plainly expressed his aesthetic theories, illustrated them and the risks inherent in them, and even offered guidelines for anyone who chooses to live a life of futile beauty.