Are beauty, truth and goodness transcendentals?

Every instinct in us seems to be built upon a fundamental instinct to escape from death and suffering and to move towards life, health and pleasure.  In a world with no natural predators and an abundance of food, survival  is no longer a big issue so we seek, and thus find, beauty and truth for their own sake because they give us pleasure and allow us to live life more abundantly.  They are the keys to the kingdom of heaven and are accessible by becoming "as a child" in one's outlook.