{"id":4476,"date":"2026-08-10T07:51:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T12:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/?p=4476"},"modified":"2026-08-10T07:51:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T12:51:53","slug":"process-5-the-search-for-beauty-and-harmony-in-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/?p=4476","title":{"rendered":"Process 5: The Search\u00a0for Beauty and Harmony in Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The greatest question facing the search for justice in our society is answering the question, “What exactly are we searching for and how will we know when we find it?” One answer is, “We will know we are achieving some form of justice when we achieve a kind of harmonious solution to a problem facing us.” We will know that we are achieving justice in our society when people are able to live together harmoniously, when social conflict is minimized, and when individuals, families, and larger social groups are able to find avenues to fulfill their own purposes and the purposes for which they were created.<\/p>\n

Certain aspects of process thought are what might be turned \u201cneoclassical.\u201d The emphasis on beauty and harmony, found in Whitehead and other process thinkers, illustrates this continuity between process thought and classical thinking. This is also true in the political arena and law. Thus, in City of God<\/em>, Augustine, quoting Cicero, notes:<\/p>\n

In the case of music for strings or wind, and in vocal music, there is a certain harmony to be kept between the different parts, and if this is altered or disorganized the cultivated ear finds it intolerable; and the united efforts of dissimilar voices are blended into harmony by the exercise of restraint. In the same way, a community of different classes, high, low, and middle, unites, like the varying sounds of music, to form a harmony of the different parts through the exercise of rational restraint; and what is called harmony in music answers to concord in a community, and is the closest bond of security in a country. And this is not possible without justice.<\/strong> [1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Social harmony is found when all the various classes of society find their proper place in a kind of social concord that allows individuals and society to prosper. The goal of a law in creating a just society is to create harmony and concord in which all its various elements find a kind of relational wholeness and order that enables all the various groups that make it up the kind of flourishing appropriate to them. As to any particular problem, the notion is that a group of people seeking social harmony find a solution to a problem involving justice that takes account of the facts and the legitimate requests of those involved.<\/p>\n

The Order of Nature<\/strong><\/p>\n

The natural world gives us a metaphorical clue concerning the order we are seeking in human society. There exists in nature what is sometimes called \u201cThe Golden Ratio.\u201d The Golden Ratio, also known as the Golden Number, Golden Proportion, or the \u201cDivine Proportion,\u201d is a ratio between two numbers that equals approximately 1.618. Usually written as the Greek letter phi, it is strongly associated with the Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers wherein each number is added to the last. The Fibonacci numbers are 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on, with the ratio of each number and the previous number gradually approaching 1.618, or phi. [2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Euclid\u2019s\u00a0Elements<\/em> mentions the Golden Ratio dating back to around 300 BCE. Early mathematicians like Euclid and Pythagoras appreciated this special proportion, although they didn\u2019t call it the Golden Ratio. It\u2019s only later in history that it gained its enchanting reputation. In 1509, Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli shared his book\u00a0De Divina Proportione<\/em>, which, with illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci, celebrated the ratio as a symbol of divine simplicity and perfect harmony.<\/p>\n

The Golden Ratio is commonly found in the natural world and is regarded as pleasing by human beings. It appears in various aspects of nature, from the structure of seashells to that of certain flowers and other areas. Artists and others have discovered that the golden ratio is significant because humans find it aesthetically pleasing. Artists, architects, and designers have extensively used the golden ratio in creating visually appealing works of art.<\/p>\n

Research has shown that the golden ratio plays a role in what people find beautiful. Certain proportions between parts of the human face, as well as between hands, arms, and other body parts, often appeal to us. The Golden ratio appears to be a fascinating natural feature that influences our sense of beauty and serves as a foundation for understanding aesthetics.<\/p>\n

Most interestingly, the golden ratio is an abstract mathematical principle that finds application in a variety of contexts, from astronomy to mathematics, to literature, to architecture, to art, and even occasionally in theology! This noetic principle seems capable of embodiment in a variety of forms across a variety of disciplines. In each of its concrete manifestations, it evokes a sense of beauty. The principle of symmetry even plays a role in our daily lives and perceptions of human beauty. Our sense of whether a person is beautiful often depends on the symmetry and proportion of their body. For instance, when a face is well-proportioned, we’re more likely to notice it and find it attractive. It should not, therefore, surprise us if symmetry and proportion of a kind is operative in human societies as well.<\/p>\n

Basing Politics on an Outdated Model of the World.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scholars tell us that the United States of America was the first Enlightenment nation, a pioneering example of a society shaped by scientific understanding and the hope for a secular culture rooted in human reason. The modern worldview that inspired the United States Constitution sees reality as fundamentally materialistic\u2014meaning the \u201creal\u201d consists of material things, ultimately particles, connected by various forces. From this perspective, the universe, including humanity, is often imagined as a vast, complex machine made of matter and energy.<\/p>\n

In recent years, this materialistic view has shifted toward one that emphasizes deep interconnectedness, relationships, freedom, and inner sensitivity. In other words, this materialistic worldview has begun to give way to a worldview that is more organic, more classical, and supported by the insights of both modern science and what I have called the constructive postmodern thinkers, symbolized by the process philosophers and theologians.<\/p>\n

The world, as modern relativity and quantum theories describe it, is deeply relational, historical, and sensitive to minor information inputs. If the world itself is organic, relational, traditional, and sensitive to minor information inputs, then so are human beings and the societies they create. This insight leads to a very different, more relational view of human society\u2014a view consistent with an older classical view of human society.<\/p>\n

Order and Beauty in Human Society<\/strong><\/p>\n

The order and beauty we observe in the physical universe offers insight into the kind of organic harmony that might create a ‘beautiful society,\u201d where justice thrives and people can truly flourish. Today, modern society often sees the world as a kind of machine, made up of matter\u2014like people and institutions\u2014and forces\u2014like political power. From this perspective, human reason is seen mainly as mental strength that helps us change the physical world and shape society. In industry, this means developing new technologies; in politics, it involves using the power to achieve influence and control. Unfortunately, this view often leads us to see society as a collection of independent individuals connected by different forces, overlooking the deeper connections that truly bind us together.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been writing this series of blogs because I care about how our social, cultural, and political perspectives shape the world we live in. If those who believe we are transitioning from the modern to the postmodern era are right, and if embracing a more organic, human-centered approach\u2014considering mind, body, and spirit\u2014is essential, then it\u2019s understandable why our political institutions are feeling so strained. We see the impacts of a purely mechanical view of reality all around us, reminding us of the importance of a more holistic understanding. Both socialist and radical individualist social philosophies suffer from the modern fascination with power and control. In one case, it is a bureaucratic elite. In the other, it is a private economic elite.<\/p>\n

If all that is involved in politics is a kind of Nietzschean Will to Power, and if politics is simply war by another name, then the destructive political and socio-economic behavior we read about daily in the news and media is accurate\u2014and we are doomed to some kind of dictatorship of the left or right as someone finally wins the battle. However, if the materialistic view of the world is incorrect, there is hope of avoiding the decay of our social institutions. To achieve this, though, will require changes in both our perspective on the world and the way we structure our political institutions.\u00a0I think the latter point is true, and therefore there is some hope, however small, that our society and others can peacefully transition to a new, truly postmodern world.<\/p>\n

One insightful aspect of Eastern Orthodoxy highlights how war brings about ugliness and can leave lasting scars on those involved. Conflict undeniably introduces an element of ugliness wherever it takes place. This is true in war, in politics, and in business. If this insight is true, it\u2019s understandable that the winner-takes-all approach inspired by materialistic Hobbesian Enlightenment ideas, which is prominent in modern Western politics, might be contributing to cultural decline in our basic social institutions, including our legal system.<\/p>\n

Creative Beauty<\/strong><\/p>\n

For process thinkers, the concept of beauty is broader and more fundamental than the notion of truth. The idea of Beauty refers to the way in which the various items of our human experience conform to one another and relate in a way that promotes both maximum effectiveness and aesthetic appreciation. The universe itself is directed toward the production of beauty, which explains why we human beings are often struck by the beauty of nature, despite the irregularities, imperfections, and even distortions and violence of that reality.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

As far as justice is concerned, beauty exists when a society has managed to create a degree of social harmony in which human beings can flourish and live their lives in a meaningful and effective way. The unfolding of beauty in the form of justice in human society is accompanied by a recognition that something good and truthful has been accomplished. In some way, imperfection, falsehood, evil, and distortion have been overcome to a small degree, and society has been perfected to a degree previously unknown. One might say that the harmony the society has achieved in a moment of beauty reflects a kind of beauty that has been achieved by a proper and elegant order.<\/p>\n

Let me give you a concrete example from the world of law. I often mention Brown v. Board of Education<\/em> as the most significant decision of the 20th<\/sup> century by the United States Supreme Court.[4]<\/a> This landmark ruling successfully ended a century of legal discrimination and inequality that had hindered the human growth and potential of an entire race of people. It paved the way toward a society that is fairer, more equal, and more welcoming, fostering greater opportunities for everyone to thrive. It was a supreme example of justice emerging in a society, but it was also an example of overcoming ugliness and imperfection (segregation), which led to endless and destructive social conflict. The decision created a harmony and order in which society could heal, and people could flourish in ways previously impossible. Our nation was not only more just after the decision; it was more beautiful.<\/p>\n

The search for justice as an unfolding reality in human society is not merely a search for some truthful or abstract legal resolution of problems. It is not simply a search for the simplest or most economical way of organizing society. It is the search for creating a society that is more beautiful and more capable of allowing human beings to flourish, a goal that cannot be achieved without justice as well.<\/p>\n

The Art of Justice<\/strong><\/p>\n

The activities of lawyers, judges, and other participants in the legal system, are akin to the creation of a work of art. They are works of art that incorporate truthfulness, wisdom, love, and the beauty and elegance of decision, without which society would be poor, not just in intellectual terms but in real physical terms as well. The goal of the legal system is the creation of a society that, to use the word beautiful, is filled with that harmony and beauty that can only be created after and as a result of a determined search by a community of people dedicated to the creation of such a society.<\/p>\n

Mathematicians and physicists often refer to the beauty of the equations as an indication of their truth. Part of the search for a mathematical expression of the laws of the universe is finding in them a kind of beauty and order that isn\u2019t an indication of their truth. The search for justice is no different. There is something in a good decision by a court of law that makes it inherently more just, more beautiful, more orderly, more harmonious, and more elegant than what existed before the decision. A great decision is an even greater achievement of beauty, harmony, and elegance than a merely good one. On the other hand, a bad decision is often coupled with a lack of harmony, a failure of goodness, and a kind of inelegance that continues to disturb a society’s legal system until it is corrected.<\/p>\n

The legal community’s dedicated pursuit of justice isn’t just about deciding who wins or loses, nor is it based on the idea, sometimes held by modern theorists, that whatever the majority or the most powerful group wanted at any given moment is ‘just.’ Instead, think of our legal system as a human endeavor\u2014sometimes imperfect\u2014striving to find fair solutions to specific issues, all in the hope of building a better society for everyone involved, including those with whom we might disagree. I believe that achieving this requires a deep commitment to our legal traditions\u2014like the U.S. Constitution\u2014and to our community, which continuously works to create a more just and beautiful society amidst the endless changes and countless situations life brings our way. It is the search for a beautiful as well as functional society.<\/p>\n

In order to reorient our thinking about justice in a more holistic and organic way, it will be necessary to change the way we see our society, train citizens to be healthy participants in social activities, and especially to create a better pattern for training leaders in law, politics, and other aspects of our cultural life. In the end, there cannot be a just society without a community of people who diligently seek that just society and have the personal character needed to engage in the disciplined search for it.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> St. Augustine, City of God<\/em> tr. Henry Bettenson (London, ENG: Penguin Books, 1984), 72. See also Cicero, On the Commonwealth<\/em> tr. George Holland Sabine & Stanley Barney Library of the Liberal Arts, ed. (Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1929), 183. Augustine studied and appreciated Cicero.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Adobe, \u201cAn Introduction to the Golden Ratio\u201d https:\/\/www.adobe.com\/creativecloud\/design\/discover\/golden-ratio.html<\/a> (Downloaded May 26, 2025<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> A. N. Whitehead, Adventure of Ideas<\/em> (New York, NY: Free Press, 1933), 265, hereinafter \u201cAI\u201d.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka<\/em>, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The greatest question facing the search for justice in our society is answering the question, “What exactly are we searching for and how will we know when we find it?” One answer is, “We will know we are achieving some form of justice when we achieve a kind of harmonious solution to a problem facing … Continue reading Process 5: The Search\u00a0for Beauty and Harmony in Society<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4CzBH-1ac","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4476"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4487,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4476\/revisions\/4487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gchristopherscruggs.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}