Since the
beginning of time, writers, musicians, and artists, have been
obsessed with the struggle between good and evil... and
communicating about it in their work.
I wonder how many people perceive the activities going on around us
today as a battle between good and evil? Our culture indicates that
we relate on this level as human beings... "Brothers in Arms" by
Mark Knopfler, "Superman Song" by the Crash Test Dummies, the remake
of "Robin Hood", all of the Western movies, Cops and Robbers shows,
it goes on and on.
Science and Math, on the other hand, have not traditionally thought
in terms of good and evil. David Suzuki may be a refreshing
exception to this, and I believe an entire new breed of
environmental scientists are appearing.
Rudolf
Arnheim states that art should have as its goal to:
"enhance the spirit of our existence and conduct as human
beings." (79) This is no small task. For I believe the role of
art should not be moralizing or judging. Yet as with the primitive,
it has everything to do with good and evil, life and death.
79. Rudolf Arnheim, Toward a Psychology of Art, (Berkeley and L.A.,
Cal., University of California Press, 1966), p.211
