Why art precludes politics

Art has the function of satisfying the artist subjectively (by the fulfillment of his/her drives), and of stimulating the audience 'objectively' (as object, 'in the world')

It is not power, it can not fulfill the function of the 'ugly truth' - politics, which is summarized as falsity and its obstruction, either through force (might is right, the primal logos of the world) or through "peacefully" / more subtly enforced legislation, the logos of/within a state.

Politics can attain to aesthetics in the sense of harmony, elegance, geometry, but never to beauty. Beauty is a sensation for which also the renunciation of control is required. This aspect is antithetical to politics - at least politics as we know it.

Politics is the business of attaining goals, and creating means to accomplish this out of a given situation over which one has no absolute power.
Art is the business of presupposing the attainment of a goal and thereby defining the present situation as necessarily leading up to that goal.

A tyrant is someone who manages, to a relatively great degree, to live life both as politician and artist - eventualy all tyrants will have to succumb to the limitations of the laws of either of the two. If he chooses art, he will renounce or lose power, if he chooses politics he will renounce beauty.

The solution for a tyrant is a tragic or epic death, an aesthetic ending to the narrative of his quest for dominion. Caesar attained this, he was murdered by how own people at the heart of his power, resulting in the creation of the recreation and superenforcement of the state that he aspired to dominate. Napoleon and Hitler did not - the former simply lost, withdrew and was banished - he became irrelevant to his accomplishment. The latter was defeated and his will was negated.

Neither did Alexander attain a satisfactory ending to his narrative - unless the details of his illness are more interesting that we know. He died at least in conquest, in the midst of decision-making. Still, the central figure of politics is Caesar, in whose image the Christ, in the sense that Jesus is a fictional character, may have been designed for our people; "the perfect son" by whose name and authority all future kings of Rome (the west) will rule.

Jesus represents the artistic aspect of Caesars life - the sacrifice at the height of the possible. But the two need to be understood as one in order to see how power can lead to beauty - how politics can be made subservient to this most subjective, therefore most real, living virtue.

There can be no significant sacrifice without a power sufficiently strong to kill a being that is significant to others. The sacrifice must be aimed at transforming the greater power from within. So it is also with the inner politics of the artist...