What Is Art?

by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Read free now

Read it here, or listen to it read aloud.

Philosophy

"What Is Art?" by graf Leo Tolstoy is a philosophical work completed in 1897. Tolstoy questions the very nature of art, rejecting beauty-based definitions to propose that art is anything communicating emotion—from jokes to church services. Yet his Christian moralism leads him to dismiss celebrated masters like Beethoven, Wagner, and Shakespeare, along with most of his own writings.

Summary from Project Gutenberg.

4,253 readers on Project Gutenberg

More Philosophy classics

Cover of The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3)The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3)Arthur SchopenhauerCover of The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: A new rendering based on the Foulis translation of 1742The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus: A new rendering based on the Foulis translation of 1742Emperor of Rome Marcus AureliusCover of On the Nature of ThingsOn the Nature of ThingsTitus Lucretius CarusCover of Essays of SchopenhauerEssays of SchopenhauerArthur SchopenhauerCover of Plutarch's MoralsPlutarch's MoralsPlutarchCover of EuthyphroEuthyphroPlato

Topics: Arts -- Philosophy · Arts and morals