Introduction

The aspirational ascent to the heights of the fullest self-realization may be conceived as a series of kinds of reaching on the premise that lively beings are always reaching for more of what they think is good for them—and not only reaching out for more of known goods but reaching up to meet new challenges and acquire new vistas. The mental aspect of our reaching is imagining. The responsible descent from the heights of the most fully authorized, broadly and deeply beneficial guidance is conceived as a series of endeavors of righting the situations we inhabit, and not only setting them to rights in already-fixed ways but seeking fundamentally better relations, fairer and more benign. The mental righting that seeks responsible solutions (differently in different frames of reference) is moral sensing. Reaching and righting are the arch-actions of aesthetically and morally sensitive life.