Beauty - Truth - Good

Plato often likes to talk of Good, Beauty and Truth.  It is interesting to explore how these three concepts are related.  However, a relation here seems to go against what we would conceive of as morality and truth.  We may admit that there may be something beautiful in goodness and truth, but most people would not say that they would believe something that is beautiful to be true, or that if something is beautiful that it is something that is “good.”  One would like to think that we have some sort of deeper sense of what is moral, that there is some inherent good inside of us that can tell what is good and true, not simply believing the first pretty thing to come along. However, if we think about it, this connection that our ancient philosopher came up with is quite accurate.  For example, we often are inclined to believe things that are more pleasing/beautiful.  Think about the pretty girl giving a testimony compared to an ugly old man.  Admittedly this may also be a case of distraction from facts, turning attention away, but also consider if one would be more inclined to believe a simple and “beautiful” system compared to a messy and “ugly” one.  Most scientists would be the first to tell you that when looking for the truth, they often rule out the more complicated theories in favor of the simpler ones (often seen as beautiful for their ingenious workings).  And when it comes to Goodness, who really knows why we think certain things are right?  This is an issue still debated today, but could we not say that all good acts are said to be beautiful?  And, if this is true, could we perhaps say that it might work the other way around, that we determine what is good by their beauty?  We must admit that there is some connection present between Goodness and Beauty, even if we do not know in which direction it works.  Finally, we might see what the relationship between Goodness and Truth is.  We obviously cannot say that anything that is Good must be true, though I am sure most people would wish it was that way.  We might say that Truth helps to shine light on what is good, and that without truth we would never know what is Good?  Truth may also be said to be a virtue, to be something that is Good.  Perhaps we should put Truth under Good and make it simply a connection between Good and Beauty.  Yet, there does seem to be some instances where the truth may not be all that good.  The Good thing to do may be to tell little lies at times, to save a friend from feeling badly, or to save someone from an unjust punishment.  Our triangle may be a little skewed, with slightly stronger connections on one side or going in one direction rather than another, but it is quite accurate and still relevant today.  Perhaps in our search for morality, it is our innate moral sense which shows us what is right by recognizing the beauty in good actions.