On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life Through Great Books

by Karen Swallow Prior

Recall Elaine Scarry’s definition above of justice as a symmetry of our relations to each other. Symmetry is a factor of both beauty and justice. And while beauty and justice have objective qualities, they must be observed in order to be appreciated and cultivated. Both require, Scarry says, “constant perceptual acuity,” and in this way the perception of beauty can assist in the perception and correction of injustice.53 “It is as though beautiful things have been placed here and there throughout the world to serve as small wake-up calls to perception, spurring lapsed alertness back to its most acute level. Through its beauty, the world continually recommits us to a rigorous standard of perceptual care.”54 A “rigorous standard of perceptual care” is required to seek and uphold justice as well. Moreover, there is not one way of achieving justice any more than there is one way of being beautiful.