Abstract:

Our aesthetic activities can be divided into two types: one is in the non-spiritual sense and the other is originating from human spiritual needs or spiritual desires. As far as the spiritual aesthetic activities towards the existence of the world and the human itself is concerned, their objects actually consist of two kinds of “spiritual material”, i.e., “the sublime” and “the beautiful”. The human moral consciousness and moral behaviors do come from the spiritual aesthetic activities of these two kinds of spiritual material. Their mechanism lies in the application of reflective judgement, which is carried out in spiritual aesthetic games and reflects human spiritual freedom. Human spiritual aesthetic activities embody the unity of the principle of the Dao of Heaven and the principle of natural selection. Human beings know that they can realize “eternal life” after becoming an artwork through spiritual aesthetic activities. This spiritual aesthetic view has the significance of religious “redemption” for human beings in suffering.

Key words: spiritual material, the sublime, the beautiful, morality, religion