Leo Tolstoy, What Is Art? | Tolstoy's Definition of Art | Philosophy Core Concepts
Summary
TLDRDr. Gregory Sadler, a philosophy professor and founder of Reason IO, introduces a series of short videos focusing on core concepts from philosophical texts. In this segment, he discusses Leo Tolstoy's 'What is Art?', exploring Tolstoy's rejection of traditional art definitions and his own, which views art as a means of emotional communication or 'communion' between the creator and audience, transcending time and space. Sadler highlights Tolstoy's emphasis on the shared experience of feelings as the essence of art, which allows for a deep connection across cultures and generations.
Takeaways
- đ Dr. Gregory Sadler is a professor of philosophy and the founder of Reason IO, an educational consulting company.
- đ He has over 20 years of experience studying and teaching philosophy and helps students and lifelong learners understand classic philosophical texts.
- đč Dr. Sadler produces lecture videos, both long and short, to make philosophical concepts accessible, with the current series focusing on core concepts from important texts.
- đïž Leo Tolstoy's 'What is Art?' is discussed, where he critiques existing definitions and offers his own, viewing art as a form of communication or communion.
- đ Tolstoy rejects definitions of art based on beauty or pleasure, arguing they are insufficient to capture the essence of art.
- 𧏠He critiques the 'physiological evolutionary' definition of art, suggesting it explains the origin but not the essence of art.
- đ Tolstoy also dismisses the 'practical definition' of art, which focuses on the expression of emotions, as it lacks the audience dependency that he believes is crucial.
- đš Art, according to Tolstoy, must be both emotional and communicative, involving a shared experience between the producer and the audience.
- đ Tolstoy emphasizes that art enables a communion that transcends time and space, allowing people to share feelings across generations and cultures.
- đ The definition of art by Tolstoy is normative, suggesting how art should be understood and appreciated rather than just describing it.
Q & A
Who is Dr. Gregory Sadler?
-Dr. Gregory Sadler is a professor of philosophy and the president and founder of Reason IO, an educational consulting company that applies philosophy in practical ways.
What is the primary focus of Reason IO?
-Reason IO focuses on putting philosophy into practice, helping students and lifelong learners understand and engage with philosophical concepts.
What difficulties does Dr. Sadler identify in reading classic philosophical texts?
-Dr. Sadler finds that people often have difficulties with the way things are said or the structure of the text in classic philosophical works, even though the concepts themselves are not always complicated.
What is the purpose of the new series of shorter videos by Dr. Sadler?
-The new series aims to focus on one core concept from an important philosophical text, making it easier for viewers to understand and engage with complex ideas.
What does Leo Tolstoy's work 'What is Art?' examine?
-In 'What is Art?', Tolstoy examines and rejects various definitions of art, then provides his own definition, viewing art as a means of communication or communion between the producer and the audience.
According to Tolstoy, what is the essence of art?
-Tolstoy believes that the essence of art lies in its ability to communicate feelings and create a sense of communion among people, transcending space, time, and culture.
What does Tolstoy reject in the definitions of art based on beauty?
-Tolstoy rejects definitions that rely on beauty as something that can be defined or encapsulated, often involving metaphysics and the idea of beauty providing pleasure.
What is the 'physiological evolutionary' definition of art that Tolstoy mentions?
-The 'physiological evolutionary' definition suggests that art emerges from sexuality and a propensity for play in the animal kingdom, associated with a pleasant excitation of nervous energy.
What is the issue with the 'practical definition' of art according to Tolstoy?
-The issue with the 'practical definition' is that it does not account for the audience dependency; one can express emotions without affecting others, and without this effect, the expression is not considered art.
What is the problem with the definition of art that includes the production of a permanent object or passing action for enjoyment?
-This definition is problematic because it could include activities that are not art, like magic tricks or gymnastic exercises, and it might exclude objects that produce an unpleasant impression but are still considered art.
What are the key elements of Tolstoy's definition of art?
-Tolstoy's definition of art includes the communication of feelings through external signs with the purpose of affecting others, creating a sense of communion among people, including the audience and potentially other spectators.
How does Tolstoy view the role of emotions in art?
-Tolstoy views emotions as essential to art, stating that the capacity of people to be infected by the feelings of others is the basis for the communicative power of art.
What is the significance of the audience in Tolstoy's conception of art?
-In Tolstoy's view, the audience is crucial because art is meant to communicate feelings and create a shared experience, which constitutes the essence of art.
What does Tolstoy suggest about the communicability of art across time and space?
-Tolstoy suggests that genuine art allows for communication of feelings across time and space, enabling people to understand and share in the experiences of others, even those from different eras or cultures.
Outlines
đ Introduction to Dr. Gregory Sadler's Philosophy Series
Dr. Gregory Sadler, a philosophy professor and founder of Reason IO, introduces a new series of videos aimed at simplifying complex philosophical concepts. With over 20 years of experience, he aims to make classic philosophical texts more accessible. The series focuses on core concepts from important texts, starting with Leo Tolstoy's 'What is Art?', where Tolstoy critiques existing definitions of art and proposes his own, viewing it as a form of communication or communion between the producer and audience, transcending space, time, and culture.
đš Tolstoy's Critique of Existing Art Definitions
In 'What is Art?', Leo Tolstoy examines and rejects various definitions of art based on beauty and pleasure, arguing that these fail to capture the essence of art. He critiques the physiological evolutionary definition, suggesting that while it may explain the origin of art, it does not define its essence. Tolstoy also addresses the practical definition of art, which focuses on the expression of emotions through various mediums, but he argues that this alone is insufficient without the intent to affect others, highlighting the importance of audience engagement in the definition of art.
đ Tolstoy's Definition of Art as Communion
Tolstoy presents his own definition of art as a means of communion among people, emphasizing the emotional connection between the artist and the audience. He argues that art enables the sharing of feelings, creating a bond that transcends time and space. This emotional communication is essential to art, and Tolstoy illustrates this with examples of 'emotional infection', where one person's feelings can influence others. He also notes that art requires intent to communicate feelings and the use of external signs, such as visual or auditory elements, to express those feelings.
đ The Universality and Timelessness of Art
Tolstoy's view of art extends to its ability to communicate emotions across generations, allowing individuals to connect with the feelings of others from different times and cultures. He suggests that genuine art provides a form of communion that is not limited by physical presence, enabling a shared emotional experience. This perspective highlights the importance of emotional communication in defining art and the potential for art to foster understanding and connection among people regardless of their temporal or cultural differences.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄPhilosophy
đĄReason IO
đĄClassic Philosophical Texts
đĄConcepts
đĄCommunication
đĄArtefactual
đĄEmotional Infection
đĄDefinitions of Art
đĄAesthetic Pleasure
đĄPractical Definition
đĄCommunion
Highlights
Dr. Gregory Sadler introduces himself as a professor of philosophy and founder of Reason IO, an educational consulting company.
Sadler has over 20 years of experience studying and teaching philosophy, aiming to make classic philosophical texts accessible.
He discusses creating a new series of short videos focused on core concepts from important philosophical texts.
In Leo Tolstoy's 'What is Art?', various definitions of art are examined and rejected before presenting Tolstoy's own definition.
Tolstoy's definition views art as a form of communication or communion between the producer and the audience.
Art is described as having to be artefactual, expressed in outward signs, and serving a communicative purpose.
Tolstoy rejects definitions of art based on beauty or pleasure alone, arguing they are insufficient.
The 'physiological evolutionary' definition of art is critiqued for focusing on the origin rather than the essence of art.
The 'practical definition' of art is discussed, which considers art as an external manifestation of emotions.
Tolstoy argues that the practical definition is imprecise because it doesn't account for the audience's experience.
A third definition associates art with the production of objects or actions that give pleasure to both producer and audience.
Tolstoy critiques this definition for including non-artistic activities and excluding some things that are clearly art.
Tolstoy's own definition emphasizes art as a central condition of human life, providing communion among people.
Art is seen as a means of emotional communication, where the audience can experience the same feelings as the producer.
Tolstoy asserts that art must have a purpose of communicating feelings to others and be expressed through external signs.
He discusses the wide range of feelings that can constitute the subject of art, from the most diverse to the most significant.
Tolstoy's definition allows for artistic communication over time and space, enabling a shared experience across different audiences.
The video concludes with a discussion on the normative nature of Tolstoy's definition of art, suggesting it's more than just descriptive.
Transcripts
hi this is dr. Gregory Sadler I'm a
professor of philosophy and the
president and founder of an educational
consulting company called reason IO
where we put philosophy into practice
I've studied and taught philosophy for
over 20 years and I find that many
people run into difficulties reading
classic philosophical texts sometimes
it's the way things are said or how the
text is structured but the concepts
themselves are not always that
complicated and that's where I come in
to help students and lifelong learners
I've been producing longer lecture
videos and posting them to youtube many
viewers say they find them useful what
you're currently watching is part of a
new series of shorter videos each of
them focused on one core concept from an
important philosophical text I hope you
find it useful as well
in the course of his short work what is
art leo tolstoy will first examine a
number of already provided definitions
of art which he rejects and then provide
his own in his view superior definition
that figures art as a means of
communication or communion between the
producer the audience and potentially
other spectators or auditors or whoever
is experiencing the art so it's a mode
of communication
spanning quite a potential distance in
space or time or culture and it also has
to be artefactual it's it's expressed in
outward signs and there's there's also
that the purpose of communication there
so that in an essence is his definition
of art and in Chapter five he's going to
provide this and flesh it out he begins
chapter five first by rejecting other
definitions and he has already examined
a number in earlier chapters based on
Beauty understood is as something that
could be defined or encapsulated in some
way generally relying on some sort of
metaphysics and beauty involving
pleasure so so we get a rejection of
ways of understanding art then
essentially frame it in terms of the
pleasure that is being provided by the
work of art to the spectator or observer
or you might say the the consumer so he
puts that aside and then he says there's
a few other definitions attempts to
characterize art that we need to get out
of the way as well he calls one of these
the physio evolutionary typing and
that's quite interesting he says that
the latest and most comprehend
definitions of our independent of the
concept of beauty would include the
following art is an activity already
emerging in the animal kingdom out of
sexuality and a propensity for play he
says this comes from Schiller Darwin and
Spencer accompanied by a pleasant
excitation of nervous energy grant and
Alan are the people talking about that
so he calls this the physiological
evolutionary definition and he says this
doesn't really work to explain what art
would be it may in fact provide us with
some feature of why artworks are
produced it could be that there is an
element of play there but he says that
it's imprecise because it speaks not of
the activity that constitutes the
essence of art but the the origin of art
and Tolstoy is saying you can have all
that sort of stuff and we could bring in
psychoanalytic discussions as well or
any of that but the origins by
themselves doesn't get us the the
essence the what makes art art now
another interesting attempt that he
talks about he calls the practical
definition of art so he says art is an
external manifestation by means of lines
colors gestures sounds or words of
emotions experienced by man and he says
this comes from viral causes the
practical definition and he says that
the practical definition is imprecise
why because a person can express their
emotions by means of lines colour sounds
and words without affecting others by it
and the expression will then not be art
so there is a audience dependency you
could say so the the piece that is
produced by the
I know let's say musician and it's never
heard by anyone else is it really art
Tolstoy would say no I think a lot of us
would probably say yeah of course it's
just art that's not being heard but
Tolstoy has something else in mind
that he thinks is that the essence of
art then there's a third definition
that's provided and he doesn't give a
name to this but he but he associates
this with Sulli art is the production of
some permanent object or passing action
which is fitted here's a couple
conditions not only to supply an act of
enjoyment to the producer but to convey
a pleasurable impression to a number of
spectators or listeners quite apart from
any personal advantage to be derived
from it so art then becomes something
that gives pleasure both to the person
producing the art that's pleasant to
engage in the art at least at some stage
of it may be the preparatory stuff is
not about that Pleasant right or
shelling out plenty of money for for
colors is not all that Pleasant but the
the production is and then the the
audience the receivers they get some
pleasure out of it and there's no
there's no practical gain in the process
and Tolstoy says well you know that's
not bad but he says under this
definition could be included the
performance of magic tricks gymnastic
exercises and other activities that are
not art and on the other hand many
objects that produce an unpleasant
impression as for example a gloomy cruel
scene and a poetic description er in the
theater are unquestionably works of art
so it fails in in two different ways it
includes too much on the one side and it
fails to include some things that we
would say are definitely art on the
other side so what is Tolstoy going to
offer before we look at that notice that
he's not totally rejecting all of these
and saying those have nothing to do with
art
as a matter of fact when it comes to the
practical the expression of emotion side
of it emotion or feeling is going to
play an important part and expression of
that is going to play an important part
it's just not enough for a definition of
art and providing pleasure K Tolstoy is
is rather suspicious of the pleasant
part but one of the things that the the
Sulli definition does get at is that
there's something going on not just for
the audience but also for the person
producing they're engaged in something
together and in Sully's case he's
talking about pleasure in Tolstoy his
case he's talking about something else
so let's look at Tolstoy his own
characterization or a definition of art
he tells us that the mistake that they
have made is not considering art as one
of the conditions of human life
something absolutely central to human
life so he says if we consider art this
way
we cannot fail to see that art is a
means of what use this word communion
communion among people and then he goes
on and he says every work of art results
in the one who receives it the spectator
the auditor the observer the consumer
entering into a certain kind of
communication with the one who produced
or is producing the art so we're gonna
have a little bit more in just a second
but well think about that what this
means is that genuine works of art works
that are expressive of the very essence
of art are going to be providing
communion whatever that communion is
going to be between the person or
persons who are engaged in producing it
and the audience
could be there at the present time or
could be distant by millennia think
about us and Homer for example when we
read The Iliad now Homer you know of
course people are gonna point out we're
not really sure if there was a single
guy named Homer or if it was sort of an
ensemble of people working at things
that just reinforces Tolstoy point those
producers working through that as a
troop or ensemble or as a bunch of
people over a couple hundred years using
each other's composition would also be
in that communion a growing and
developing communion with each other
so it's a communion among people now
notice what else he says about this
though it's not just between the
producer and the observer it's between
observers and other observers he says
it's communion with all of those who
simultaneously with him before him or
after him have received or will receive
the same artistic impression so it
offers the potentiality of reaching an
audience some of whom are not yet born
and yet who we would be in a kind of
communion with something you know that
that spans the the ages what is this
communion so Tolstoy says that the
communion is essentially about feelings
he says that here we go as the word
which conveys men's thoughts and
experiences serves to unite people so
art serves in precisely the same way but
the peculiarity of this means of
communication is that through the word
or through through art people convey
their feelings to each other so the
activity of art is based on the fact
that people as they receive through
hearing or sight the expression of
another person's feelings is capable of
experiencing the same feelings as the
one
expresses them so when I listen to a
work of music
let's take stuff that's you know kind of
easy low-hanging fruit with this I'm
listening to you know a gorgeous
romantic composition and it's supposed
to convey the feeling of triumph over
adversity or something like that
according to Tolstoy if I'm in communion
through that work of art with the
composer or perhaps we might also say
with the director of the players all the
people who made the the thing that I'm
listening to then they're feeling that
feeling I'm also feeling that feeling as
well
he doesn't specify precisely I mean it
do we feel it like 95 percent
identically or is it does it suffice to
feel it and kind of broad strokes the
same way you know because he doesn't
have to this is something that we could
work out on our own but the feelings are
shared in and he talks about examples of
what he you know has come to be called
emotional infection right but also
sharing the same kind of experience so
he says think about a simple example a
person laughs another person feels merry
he weeps and the person who hears this
weeping feels sad a man is excited
annoyed and another looking at him gets
into the same state with his movements
the sound of his voice a person displays
cheerfulness determination around the
contrary dejection calm and this mood is
communicated to others and he talks
about this capacity of people to be
infected by the feelings of other people
and he says art is based upon this that
doesn't mean that art is entirely that
but that's something essential to art
now is that enough to make it art he
says no there's there's two other
conditions that are going to come up in
here one is that there has to be a
purpose of communicating to others so
the mere fact have come
and being ticked off that you know the
train didn't run on time and I got rain
died and all that and I take off my coat
in an angry way and you know somebody
asks me how are you doing here this day
sucks stupid street car didn't stop
where it was supposed to right that's
not yet art even though it may in fact
be communicating my feeling to the other
person who then according to Tolstoy
would have to get angry or have some
kind of emotional response consonants
with it
due to my my expressing my feelings I
have to have a purpose of communicating
my feelings to other and that's part of
what makes for working in an artistic
medium for somebody like Tolstoy then
that's the other key thing there has to
be an expression as he says by external
signs and he says art begins when a
person with the purpose of communicating
to other people a feeling he wants
experience calls it up again within
himself and expresses it by certain
external signs so he goes on and he says
a little bit later he's talking about a
wide range of feelings he says feelings
the most diverse very strong and very
weak very significant and very worthless
very bad and very good if only they
infect the reader the spectator the
listener constitute the subject of art
the feeling of self-denial and
submission to fate or God portrayed in a
drama the raptures of lovers described
in a novel a feeling of sensuous
described in a painting the briskness
conveyed by a triumphal march and music
the gaiety evoke by a dance the
comicality caused by a funny anecdote
the feeling of peace conveyed by an
evening landscape or lulling song all of
this is art so all of these things
qualify if there is in fact an emotional
communication taking place as art 4/4
Tolstoy and the one last thing that I do
want to talk about with this definition
is the fact that as we've mentioned
earlier this allows you could say
communication over a distance and so he
says that just as owing to our capacity
for understanding thoughts expressed in
words any person can learn all that
mankind has done for them in the realm
of thought can in the present owing to
the capacity for understanding other
people's thoughts participate in other
people's activity and can himself convey
thoughts he's received from others to
his contemporary and his posterity
there's a similar thing going on with
art he says owing to man's capacity for
being infected by other people's
feelings through art he has access to
all that mankind has experienced before
him in the realm of feeling provided as
conveyed through the artwork he has
access to the feelings experienced by
his contemporaries to feelings lived by
other men thousands of years ago and
it's possible for him to convey his
feelings to other people so this was a
very optimistic sort of viewpoint the
communicability of what's going on in
art right genuine art according to
Tolstoy allows us to respond in such a
way as to be able to grasp what's going
on in other people's art now that may be
a little optimistic it may be that we
require some education and training as
he's going to you know talk about a
little bit or not in order to appreciate
and to thereby understand and enter into
communion about what's happening with
the art that other people are doing
particularly if they are distant in in
time or in space or in culture from us
but that's the essence of Tolstoy
understanding of art he thinks that this
provides us with a definition
we really should understand this as a
definition that's meant to be normative
rather than merely descriptive
you
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