‘The True, The Good and The Beautiful’ by Phil Hanlon

‘In this video Professor Phil Hanlon suggests that if we are to transcend the problems of modernity we will have to understand why we are in our current predicament. To do so, he explores Plato’s idea that human beings naturally integrate the true (science), the good (ethics) and the beautiful (aesthetics or art).

We do this in our private lives but modernity has allowed a perverted version of one of the three (a reductionist and numerically driven version of science) to eclipse the other two particularly in government and organisations. The result is ‘scientism’ which is an ideology, as distinct from true science, which is an invaluable tool.

If we are to achieve transformational change, one of the things we will have to do is to learn how to reintegrate the good, the true and the beautiful. To that end he proposes a new six component framework which captures not just current science, ethics and aesthetics but also accommodates their emergent dimensions.’

Why not check out Phil’s other videos on this website?