Which Greek Philosopher Does Tolstoy Follow Most Closely In His Work What Is Art?

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Context. Leo Tolstoy, like the Greek philosopher Plato , believed art too important to be judged in terms of art alone. Because art is capable of making people better or worse, the social and ethical consequences of art must be considered in judgments about art.

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What does Tolstoy say about art?

Tolstoy defines art as an expression of a feeling or experience in such a way that the audience to whom the art is directed can share that feeling or experience. Art does not belong to any particular class of society.

What is art According to Plato and Tolstoy?

Plato also saw art, and especially visual art , as simply a mirror to physical objects – an appearance of an appearance – and thus at a third remove from the Ideas of Truth and Beauty that really mattered. At its best, then, art is merely mimetic of a secondary reality.

What is Leo Tolstoy philosophy?

Tolstoy believed being a Christian required him to be a pacifist; the apparently inevitable waging of war by governments, is why he is considered a philosophical anarchist .

How Tolstoy explain the relationship of the artist to his/her artwork?

Tolstoy characterizes art in terms of the relationship of the observer/perceiver both to the artist and to others who perceive the work . What is the nature of that relationship? He believes that art is an important condition of human life, as it is used to communicate human feelings or emotions.

What is art According to Kant?

Kant has a definition of art, and of fine art ; the latter, which Kant calls the art of genius, is “a kind of representation that is purposive in itself and, though without an end, nevertheless promotes the cultivation of the mental powers for sociable communication” (Kant, Critique of the Power of Judgment, Guyer ...

What did Ludwig Wittgenstein say about art?

Wittgenstein rejects the idea that the meaning lies outside aesthetics using reasoning similar to that with which the Referential Theory of Language is rejected. In some way art must have ostensive definition. The second way in which art can affect us is in a way that we cannot talk about.

What is art Aristotle?

‘The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance ‘, Aristotle wrote. The theory of art as an imitation of beauty or nature was persistent throughout the history of art.

What is Aristotle’s view of art?

According to Aristotle a work of art is not only a technical question: he thinks of the work of art as a structured whole . Only as a “structured whole” can a work of art relate to human emotional experience and knowledge. Art imitates nature, but differently from the way Plato intended it.

How do Plato and Aristotle’s ideas about art differ?

While Plato condemns art because it is in effect a copy of a copy – since reality is imitation of the Forms and art is then imitation of reality – Aristotle defends art by saying that in the appreciation of art the viewer receives a certain “cognitive value” from the experience (Stumpf, p 99).

What is the meaning of life Tolstoy?

Abstract: In recognition of the fact that death is the only certainty in life, Tolstoy concludes the meaning of life cannot come from art, science, or philosophy. Only the irrational knowledge of faith can provide life’s meaning.

What does Tolstoy mean when on page 54 he speaks of faith as that which links the finite to the infinite?

Tolstoy notes that, whatever the faith may be, it “gives to the finite existence of man an infinite meaning, a meaning not destroyed by sufferings, deprivations, or death ,” and yet he is careful not to conflate faith with a specific religion.

Who was Tolstoy and what did he do?

Leo Tolstoy is known primarily for having written the masterpieces War and Peace (1865–69) and Anna Karenina (1875–77), which are commonly regarded as among the finest novels ever written.

What does Tolstoy see as the effect of separate art forms for the upper classes and the lower classes?

Tolstoy rejects aestheticians and every mainstream definition of art based on beauty or taste because they are made to justify the taste and art of the upper classes and shield them from criticism. ... His answer is straightforward: upper-class art is just the art of a specific portion of society and nothing more.

What is art to Clive Bell?

Bell’s aesthetic theory was focused on aesthetic experience. ... He claimed (in his book Art, 1914) that there is a certain uniquely aesthetic emotion, and that aesthetic qualites are the qualities in an object that evoke this emotion.

What are the basic philosophical perspective of art?

philosophy of art, the study of the nature of art , including concepts such as interpretation, representation and expression, and form. It is closely related to aesthetics, the philosophical study of beauty and taste.

What is art according to John Dewey?

Art and (aesthetic) mythology, according to Dewey, is an attempt to find light in a great darkness . Art appeals directly to sense and the sensuous imagination, and many aesthetic and religious experiences occur as the result of energy and material used to expand and intensify the experience of life.

What is art for by Jeanette Winterson?

“What art does is to coax us away from the mechanical and towards the miraculous .”

What is art by Robert Stecker?

Stecker defines art (roughly) as an item that is an artwork at time t if and only if it is in one of the central art forms at t and is intended to fulfill a function art has at t, or it is an artifact that achieves excellence in fulfilling such a function.

What is philosophical perspective of Immanuel Kant in arts for art’s sake?

Before gaining such popularity, German philosopher Immanuel Kant qualified “art for art’s sake” as a mode of approaching art in The Critique of Judgement (1790). Declaring content, subject matter, and any other external demands obsolete, Kant argued the purpose of art is to be “purposeless” .

What is art language?

Language arts (also known as English language arts or ELA ) is the study and improvement of the arts of language. ... Language arts instruction typically consists of a combination of reading, writing (composition), speaking, and listening.

Who said art has no definition?

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was one of the most influential of the early theorists toward the end of the 18th century. He believed that art should not have a concept but should be judged only on its formal qualities because the content of a work of art is not of aesthetic interest.

What is art by Plato?

In the Republic, Plato says that art imitates the objects and events of ordinary life . In other words, a work of art is a copy of a copy of a Form. It is even more of an illusion than is ordinary experience. On this theory, works of art are at best entertainment, and at worst a dangerous delusion.

What is art for Plato and Aristotle?

Plato and Aristotle spoke of mimesis as the re-presentation of nature. According to Plato, all artistic creation is a form of imitation: that which really exists (in the “world of ideas”) is a type created by God; the concrete things man perceives in his existence are shadowy representations of this ideal type.

Who are the philosophers of art?

  • Acharya Vamana.
  • Mortimer J. Adler.
  • Theodor W. Adorno.
  • Giorgio Agamben.
  • Rachel Albeck-Gidron.
  • Virgil Aldrich.
  • Bernhard Alexander.
  • Samuel Alexander.

What is Aristotle philosophy?

In his metaphysics, he claims that there must be a separate and unchanging being that is the source of all other beings. In his ethics, he holds that it is only by becoming excellent that one could achieve eudaimonia , a sort of happiness or blessedness that constitutes the best kind of human life.

How do Plato and Aristotle differ in the views of political philosophy?

Plato with his political philosophy is aimed at transforming politics. Aristotle aims at studying the existing forms of political reality. Plato believes the policy can be changed . Aristotle believed that politics cannot be changed.

How do Plato and Aristotle differ in their aesthetic ideas?

Plato believed that the pleasure we get from artistic imitations, but whereas he was distributed by it (because he thought our pleasure seduced us into accepting a false view of things), Aristotle was not. He differed from Plato on this point because the artist’s imitation helps us learn something .

Why is Tolstoy a great writer?

In War and Peace, he successfully depicted the public and national soul as incarnated in a vast array of individuals, and the novel tries, in a compelling way, to define the same unity amongst his characters. In Anna Karenina, by contrast, he deals with one doomed soul on an intimate, psychological level.

How does Aristotle refute Plato’s view on art and imitation?

Aristotle replied to the charges made by his Guru Plato against poetry in particular and art in general . He replied to them one by one in his defence of poetry. Plato says that art being the imitation of the actual is removed from the Truth. ... Art cannot be slavish imitation of reality.

What did Aristotle and Plato disagree on?

Differences in Contributions

Plato believed that concepts had a universal form , an ideal form, which leads to his idealistic philosophy. Aristotle believed that universal forms were not necessarily attached to each object or concept, and that each instance of an object or a concept had to be analyzed on its own.

Who among the following was a Russian writer?

The first great Russian novelist was Nikolai Gogol . Then came Ivan Turgenev, who mastered both short stories and novels. Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy soon became internationally renowned. Other important figures of Russian realism were Ivan Goncharov, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin and Nikolai Leskov.

What examples does Tolstoy give of the aspects of his life that are considered to be complete happiness?

All that happened with me when I was on every side surrounded by what is considered to be complete happiness. I had a good, loving and beloved wife, good children and a large estate , which grew and increased without any labour on my part.

What do we learn from the life example of Leo Tolstoy?

The most essential lesson to take from Tolstoy is to follow his lead and recognize that the best way to challenge our assumptions and prejudices, and develop new ways of looking at the world, is to surround ourselves with people whose views and lifestyles differ from our own.

Why did Tolstoy want to mankind?

Leo Tolstoy, the Russian writer who is regarded as one of the greatest author of all time rightly said, “ The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity “. Humanity means forgetting our selfish interests when others need our help. Humanity means extending unconditional love to each and every lving being.

Is Tolstoy an existentialist?

Leo Tolstoy is best known for his works Anna Karenina and War and Peace, but less is known about his existential crisis that followed these two publications. With his best works behind him, Tolstoy plunged into a meditation of science, philosophy and spirituality to make sense of his purpose and meaning.

Why was Tolstoy depressed?

What triggered Tolstoy’s depression? Life had grown hateful to me , and some insuperable force was leading me to seek deliverance from it by whatever means. I could not say that I wanted to kill myself. The force beckoning me away from life was a more powerful, complete, and overall desire.

What was Tolstoy religion?

Raised in the Russian Orthodox Church , Tolstoy lost his religion at 18. After a life of debauchery, in his early 50s, he wanted religion — or some source of intellectual security — back.

What is Leo Tolstoy philosophy?

Tolstoy believed being a Christian required him to be a pacifist; the apparently inevitable waging of war by governments, is why he is considered a philosophical anarchist .

How Tolstoy explain the relationship of the artist to his/her artwork?

Tolstoy characterizes art in terms of the relationship of the observer/perceiver both to the artist and to others who perceive the work . What is the nature of that relationship? He believes that art is an important condition of human life, as it is used to communicate human feelings or emotions.

What is art by Tolstoy summary?

Art is a means of communication, and is an important means of expression of any experience, or of any aspect of the human condition. Tolstoy defines art as an expression of a feeling or experience in such a way that the audience to whom the art is directed can share that feeling or experience .

Emily Lee
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Emily Lee
Emily Lee is a freelance writer and artist based in New York City. She’s an accomplished writer with a deep passion for the arts, and brings a unique perspective to the world of entertainment. Emily has written about art, entertainment, and pop culture.