Question: I am from the LaRouche Youth Movement in Peru, and I want to ask Mr. LaRouche, how can we make aesthetics a part of our daily lives? Thank you.

LaRouche: Ah! This is very good. I try to do that. It's a struggle, but I try to do it. I insist on music; I insist on poetry; I insist on being serious about music and poetry, in the Classical sense. I insist upon people being serious about art, in a Classical sense.

For example, I've often used with the youth movement, who really have not been much exposed to Classical art as a concept, the connection among several things: First of all, what is the difference between the Archaic method of sculpture, as known to Greece and to Egypt at that time, with what became known as the Classical Greek method of sculpture, Classical Greek method meaning a figure, say, as a human figure, caught in mid-motion, and effectively so represented by a statue?

Then you to into the 15th Century, and you go to Florence; in that period, there was a cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, which had been established, but without a cupola. The problem was, the designers of this cathedral had intended to build a cupola of that cathedral which would be greater than the cupola of the Pantheon in Rome; that is, the idea that: to affirm Christianity's superiority to pagan pantheism. But they couldn't construct it with the existing methods. So along came Filippo Brunelleschi, who took the contract, and said “I can solve the problem.”

The problem was that they couldn't get enough timber available to build a cupola, by then generally accepted methods of construction. He built it. And I had great fun with that, because I solved the problem; and I've had my solution confirmed by a leading Italian engineer: that the principle of the catenary, the principle of Leibnizian least-action, was used through the form of the hanging chain, to enable this construction to be built with economical use of building materials.

So now what we have, therefore, you have this beautiful cupola, which has two walls, inner and outer walls--you can walk up the steps inside it, if you need the exercise--it's good for you. It's a beautiful cathedral, with many wonderful artworks, which represent the Classical tradition. But the key thing is this: The principle of the catenary, which is known also as Leibniz's principle of universal least-action, and the principle of Classical Greek sculpture, the principle which is praised by John Keats with his “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” of something--life in motion, frozen in motion for eternity. That idea of sculpture; that idea of painting, in the greatest paintings--the work of Leonardo da Vinci, the work of Raphael, the work of Rembrandt. The same principle is applied in a different way in the system of Bach, as appreciated by Haydn in a certain degree, especially from his studies of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, as a young man; the work of Mozart, especially from 1782 on; the compositions of Beethoven, of Schubert, of Mendelssohn, of Schumann, and Brahms. These greatest compositions all involve an expression of this same principle.

So you have, in this approach to art; the approach to music, both as sung music, and as instrumental music of Classical form; the approach to sculpture; the approach to construction, and so forth--these things are unified. They're unified with the ideas of universal physical principle. They unify what we call “art” and “science” in one conception which is a humanist conception of man, as in the Classical humanist conceptions of the 15th Century.

So, if one participates in the experience of these aspects of culture, as something which must be experienced simultaneously within any individual's mind and experience, then we have a Classical conception of ourselves, as an individual within society, and then we are unified, rather than being, as otherwise tends to be the case, fragmented. So this is the necessity, to do this, not because we have to learn this, or learn that, or learn this, but because we need to feel a rounded sense, emotionally, intellectually, of what it is to be human, as opposed to being an animal. We hunger for that realization, especially in times of crisis--a sense of our identity as human be the case. And it's the strength of identity, so encouraged, that gives people the strength to face the great challenges of leadership in society.

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