Philosophy: (1 of 3) the Magic of ‘Three’

There is something magical about the number ‘3’. We all know of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) of Catholicism and the Three Refuges (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) in Buddhism. But also in Philosophy this ‘3’ comes up in The True, the Good, and the Beautiful. What is it about ‘3’ that holds us all in its grasp? Why can’t we just have the Father, the Dharma, and Truth? Why can’t everything else just reduce down to those? Why does this magic number seem to pop up everywhere as if it holds a truth whispered but never spoken from one culture to the next?

In Philosophy these are the three great questions of Plato’s dialogues, where we find Socrates marveling and infuriating his interlocutors as he pushes them to justify their claims to truth, goodness (justice), and beauty. Later, and a bit closer to my heart, is Kant’s three great books: Critique of Pure Reason (dealing with Truth), Critique of Practical Reason (Goodness), and Critique of Judgment (Beauty, aesthetics). But we also have philosophers claiming to reduce two of these to the third, or to elevate one above the others: materialists privilege the truth of science, theologians privilege the goodness of exemplary persons, romantics privilege the beauty of nature or poetry.

It is best, I think, if we read all of these partisans as parts of a greater whole, pointing out a deficiency or an excess in one area or another. We are fools indeed if we take the claims of any one part of our magic triad as the whole of life. Each will have its charms for us, depending on where we are in life. I was a child of the romantic Montana wilderness, a materialist adolescent, and a (still-young) man admiring exemplary persons. Now I’m trying to bring these all together to discover them, again, in who I am – today.

Now, with the world in its three principle dimensions gathered up, I can move forward with integrity, knowing no excess, seeking sublime eternal balance, living fully. We need all of these three. Somehow Dharma, Truth, or God alone is just an empty word; so too with the others, alone.