“What is Art”? by Leo Tolstoy Essay Example

to others.

However, feelings can only be the subject of art if they affect the reader; this means that the person must be moved by the same feelings of the artist for something to be considered as art.  I personally believe that Tolstoy’s definition is more valid than the others because it is both precise and objective.

In addition, he formulated a definition of art based on art itself.  It would be senseless for people to define an object based on something other than itself.  Pleasure is merely an outcome of art, but it is not art itself.

Tolstoy also asserted that pleasure cannot be used as a standard for good or bad art.

He specified that not every human activity which expresses emotions is art.  Art is only that which is selected among the activity that which choose among the rest and give it importance.  This importance is derived from the people’s religious consciousness.

Tolstoy claims that it is religion which helps people determine what is good or bad; hence, religion is the grounds which people evaluate their feelings.  In the absence of religion, he said that people judged between good and bad based on pleasure.  Beauty became the determinant of bad and good art.  However, Tolstoy did not believe that beauty was a reliable determinant of art.  He believed that while the good, the true and the beautiful are associated to each other, they are remarkably different.

The beautiful is nothing but that which is pleasurable, while the good is the noblest aim.  This was the reason why Tolstoy did not agree with the usage of pleasure

to determine the goodness or badness of art.  In my opinion, Tolstoy was justified in his claim against pleasure.

Just like in the case of art’s definition, I believe pleasure is subjective and must not be used to assess art.  If art cannot be defined with pleasure as its basis, then naturally art also must not be judged with pleasure as its grounds.

Indeed, Leo Tolstoy had refuted the traditional notions and standards of art.  He refused to agree to the definitions of art which used pleasure as its foundation.  Also, he disagreed with the usage of pleasure to differentiate good art from bad art.  For Tolstoy, art was a means of communication between people which expressed feelings.  Leo Tolstoy created his own definition of art and succeeded in justifying it.

Work Cited

Tolstoy, Leo N. “What is Art?” The Nature of Art: An Anthology. 2nd Edition. Ed. Thomas E. Wartenberg. New York: Wadsworth, 2007.