There are four timeless, universal desires or values that human beings seek across cultures and ages. These long-standing philosophical and humanistic ideas written about by (non-Christian) philosophers and Christian theologians.
God provides these. I have written about this, with a slightly different slant here.
The Four Transcendentals
These are classical philosophical concepts—especially from Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas—that describe properties of being itself, which humans naturally seek:
- Truth – the desire to know, to understand, to pursue wisdom and reality
- Goodness (or Moral Virtue) – the desire for rightness, justice, and ethical integrity
- Beauty – the desire for harmony, order, aesthetic fulfillment
- Unity (or Love/Relationship) – the desire for wholeness, connection, communion
These four are often called “the transcendentals” because they transcend the physical world yet are reflected in it. Christian thinkers have often connected them to the nature of God Himself, who is Truth, Goodness, Beauty, and Unity (as Trinity). But they are also deeply explored in classical and secular philosophy.
Alternative Framings
Some modern authors and educators will paraphrase the list slightly to appeal to secular or psychological contexts, e.g.:
- Truth – our hunger to know and understand
- Love/Relationship – our need for belonging and connection
- Justice/Goodness – our moral compass and desire for fairness
- Beauty – our appreciation of aesthetics, nature, and wonder
Or from a psychological perspective, some summarize these as:
- Cognitive fulfillment (truth)
- Moral fulfillment (goodness)
- Aesthetic fulfillment (beauty)
- Relational fulfillment (unity/love)
Philosophers and Authors Who Have Written on This
Ancient and Classical
- Plato – especially in The Republic and Symposium, on truth, beauty, and the good
- Aristotle – Nicomachean Ethics on the good life (eudaimonia), virtue, friendship
- Plotinus – The Enneads, on beauty and unity (Neoplatonism)
Christian Philosophers
- Augustine – Confessions and City of God, integrates love, truth, and beauty with God
- Thomas Aquinas – in Summa Theologica, systematic treatment of the transcendentals as attributes of being and God
Modern and Contemporary Thinkers
- Immanuel Kant – truth and beauty in Critique of Pure Reason and Critique of Judgment
- C.S. Lewis – The Abolition of Man, Surprised by Joy, and The Four Loves explore desire for truth, beauty, and love
- Hans Urs von Balthasar – The Glory of the Lord, focuses on beauty as essential to theology
- Roger Scruton – Beauty (a defense of aesthetics as essential to human life)
- Jordan Peterson – frames much of modern interest in truth, meaning, and responsibility around these themes, often pointing back to classical and biblical roots
Summary
- Truth
- Goodness
- Beauty
- Love/Unity/Relationship
These are called the transcendentals, and they are deeply rooted in classical philosophy and Christian theology. They represent what it means to be human—and are foundational in the search for meaning.
