One of the most beautiful sayings of all time - 'Man was born
free yet everywhere he is in chains' - Jean Jacques Rousseau
(1712-1778)
Society , government , laws , materialism , institutions ,
education , the establishment .corrupts 'natural' man People
are endowed with innate virtues and the attributes of compassion
and empathy. But once this state of innocence is disrupted and the
power of reason begins to separate humankind from the rest of
nature, people become detached from their natural
virtues.
The imposition of civil society on the state of nature therefore
entails a move away from virtue towards vice and from idyllic
happiness to misery.
Can we therefore also argue that clothing and the fashion industry
is another type of imposition by society which
thereby condemns man to live a life in chains ?
What props up the need for clothing and fashion industries ?
life in the city , professional work , events and gatherings of the
modern aristocracies, educational places , meaningless ceremonies,
celebrations and rituals , worship through organised
religion.....
In this regard , naturism not only helps to reconnect man with
nature, but can also restore the innocence and freedom that
is taken away by the injustice and enslavement of our corrupted
society.
The Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope ( 404-323 BC) was the first of a group of thinkers known as the Cynics who were determined to spurn all forms of social custom and etiquette and live in a natural state as possible.
In Diogenes view, the happiest personwas the one who lived in accordance with the rhythms of the natural world , free from the conventions and values of civilized society and content with the least.
How valid such a viewpoint has remained for the naturist seeking to escape the rigid confines of modern society !
Not a philosopher but famous for his thought - George Bernard Shaw on nudism: I can only say that it seams to be a reaction against the doctrine of original sin and against the abuse of clothes to produce an unnatural excess of sexual desire. The doctrine is abhorrent, and the abuse is -well it is abuse.
Whereas I am neither Roman Catholic nor profess any pope as my favorite philosopher, there are SOME healthy views on nakedness related to religion regardless of how little airtime they receive:
The human body can remain nude and uncovered and
preserve intact itssplendorand beauty, for such nakedness is not to
be equated with physical shamelessness.
The human body is not in itself shameful. Shamelessness - like shame and modesty - is a
function of the interior of a person. ~ Pope John Paul II
Who created body shame ? - The biblical story of Adam and Eve with
the concept of the original sin , Saint Paul , the Christian
Community that rose after the fall of the Roman Empire , Saint Augustine of Hippo ,
Martin Luther and John Calvin with the Reformation , The
Counter-Reformation by the Catholic Church , the Inquisition,
Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans, the fear of suspected
witches, the Victorian age from the mid-19th of the early
20th century , the religious missionaries and European colonists
who forced the natives to conform with European Cultures, the
censorship powers that sprung up with the first formation of
governments and last but not least Islam which can never
accept the uncovering of the body.
As Dr Henrich Pudor observed in his book 'Nachtcultur' , all
nations which completely disregard the rights of people to their
nudity rapidly become decadent.
Nakedness is the fundamental attribute of ancient Greek and Roman art. In Classical Greece in the 5th century BC, athletes competed and trained naked and were portrayed that way by sculptors, The gods themselves were depicted naked. It was considered a mark of civilisation to be honestly naked - for the Greeks recognised that people elsewhere did not bare themselves in this way. In The Republic, the philosopher Plato mocks the barbarians who actually wear clothes to do sports, poor yokels. Ye it was not merely the naked body that impressed the Greeks; it was the ideal body of the athlete which resembled the perfect form of the God Apollo. The supreme incarnation of female was expressed in the nude form of Aphrodite, goddess of love, called Venus by the Romans.
The Roman empire embraced the mythology and culture of Greece and had nude statutes reproduced by the wagon load.
(excerpt reproduced from the book 'The Loves of the Artists - Art and Passion in the Renaissance' , Jonathan Jones 2013
We naturists should always remember and thank the artists of the
Renaissance Movement for daring to live outside the conventions of
their time and ushering in at the same time a period of golden age
that reinvented social life and the definition of what it
meant to be human.
The Renaissance Movement is a celebration of nakedness and
nudity - look at the art of Donatello , Botticelli , Giorgione,
Leonardo De Vinci , Raphael, Michaelangelo. Titian , Durer ,
Bronzino , Bernini, Rubens , Caravaggio , Rembrandt ,
Velasquez ( to name amongst many)
Their works of art rejected the 1000 years of medieval
Christendom that emerged following the fall of Rome and was
accepted and even praised as the 'sinful' state of life on
earth.
The nude was no longer suppressed. The naked human body became again the central subject of art.
Can naturalists be also classified existentialists
?
I know the meaning of existentialism but I always find it hard to
define it without referring to my philosophy books.
I am aware that it is has developed into a label that is mainly
associated with the philosophies of Jean Paul Sartre , Simone De
Beauvoir and Albert Camus.
The best definition of existentialism is that we humans must create
a purpose for ourselves. This implies that we must break free from
habitual ways of thinking , use our freedom to make responsible
choices and take responsibility for our actions. In other words we
must be ready for an authentic lifestyle and way of living.
On this definition, I think that naturists can be called
existentialists because they are more likely to1) care and
understand what freedom is all about2)resist the false
consolations of religious faith and beliefs in
immortality3) appreciate that we are living on borrowed time and must therefore make the most of it4) be
more tolerant of people who have a sexual orientation that is
different from the conservative traditional upbringing5) be
less non-conforming than other people6) be capable of
realizing how vast our human possibilities are in a beautiful world
which can also at the same time time cruel, indifferent, and
meaningless
The Birth of Venus by Florentine Artist Sandro Botticelli between
1482-1486 is the most important nude painting since classical
antiquity.
Her nakedness is genuinely divine. There is a real tangible sense
of supernatural power when you look at this image.
That should be the ideal state when we lie naked in natural
surroundings - weightless , unconscious of our sex, truly at one
with nature and ultimately the divine. Only then can we experience
confidence with our bodies and understand the meaning of what
freedom is.
Botticelli then is my favorite artist when it comes to the subject of nakedness.
When I took the bold step to undress naked on the beach, I became
immediately aware of how the arguments put forward for the case of
naturism were right - that is a liberating experience , that you
feel at one with nature , that you sense the divine , that it is
indeed a healthy lifestyle.
At a birthday party of a high school class mate, I managed to
reconnect with some old friends of mine (of both sexes) that I used
to study and spend most of my time with during those days. I
could never forget the great spirit of friendship we had back then before all of us drifted apart as we fell into love and
long-terms relationships with other persons outside our group while
pursuing different career paths.
On that occasion of the birthday party, I somehow felt that spirit
of friendship being rekindled as we all forgot the present and
started talking and reliving between us those care-free youthful
days.
It was then , quite spontaneously, you know, that I came out with
the idea that we should go and spend an afternoon on the beach,
totally in the nude together. I wanted to capture back that
innocent friendship we had in those days when love and sex was not
on our minds as we whiled our time together. I honestly wanted to capture for a day the sense of freedom we had all lost together.
I was astounded by the reaction I got. One of them called me nuts.
The other asked me whether I have been lately watching porn. The
remaining friends gave me an amusing smile questioning me whether I
was really being serious.
As I decided to remain silent, I thought of Plato's allegory of the
cave. How valid it remained ever since he wrote it in the book 'The
Republic' in 375 BC !
I understood from that moment on, how naturism will always be
subject to misconceptions and prejudice because many people are
simply scared to look beyond their strict confines of thought.
The Cave
- Imagine a cave, in which there are three prisoners. The
prisoners are tied to some rocks, their arms and legs are bound and
their head is tied so that they cannot look at anything but the
stonewall in front of them. - These prisoners have been here since birth and have never seen
outside of the cave. - Behind the prisoners is a fire, and between them is a raised
walkway. - People outside the cave walk along this walkway carrying things
on their head including; animals, plants, wood and stone.
The Shadows
- So, imagine that you are one of the prisoners. You cannot look
at anything behind or to the side of you so you must look at the
wall in front of you. - When people walk along the walkway, you can see shadows of the
objects they are carrying cast on to the wall. - If you had never seen the real objects ever before, you
would believe that the shadows of objects were real.
The Game
- Plato suggests that the prisoners would begin a game of
guessing which shadow would appear next. - If one of the prisoners were to correctly guess, the others
would praise him as clever and say that he were a master of
nature.
The EscapeOne of the prisoners then escapes from their
bindings and leaves the cave.
- He is shocked at the world he discovers outside the cave and
does not believe it can be real. - As he becomes used to his new surroundings, he realizes that
his former view of reality was wrong. - He begins to understand his new world, and sees that the Sun is
the source of life and goes on an intellectual journey where he
discovers beauty and meaning - He sees that his former life, and the guessing game they played
is useless.
The Return
- The prisoner returns to the cave, to inform the other prisoners
of his findings. - They do not believe him and threaten to kill him if he tries to
set them free.
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