Logos and Nature

The Western Tradition is the pursuit of Logos. This concept traces back to the Greeks (at least) where it was eventually absorbed into Christianity through St. John where he described Jesus as Logos incarnate, to reconcile Christianity with Greco-Roman culture.

Heraclitus succinctly described Logos as a principle of order and knowledge, a timeless truth available to any who attend to the way the world itself is. This was never lost, but obscured in time, as we became mesmerized by the individual brush strokes of a complex masterpiece.

By infusing Logos with Christianity, the principle of natural order was united with the desire to create in God’s image. Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man exemplified this synthesis and became the blueprint for creation in the image of the idealized human form, in accordance with nature.

In practice, the goal is to optimize the individual for his environment; architecture needs to be human scale, institutions and governments need to reflect local values, and resilient lifestyle strategies that are in tune with human nature and natural systems need to be pursued.

Atonal music agitates, unbalanced architecture stresses, and ugly artwork demoralizes. There is a harmony to nature, and to fight its order induces tangible psychic trauma.

A true understanding of the natural order paired with the pursuit of the idealized human form, allows for the harvest of positive externalities. Put simply, effort in line with nature bears fruit.