Tolstoy on the Value of Art (Pre-Read)

The thesis of both Kant and Schopenhauer that aesthetic pleasure is detached from any personal interests or goals of the beholder suggests that artistic appreciation is a sui generis phenomenon — in a class of its own, unrelated to our other moral and social concerns.

And indeed some people talk of "high art" and "high culture" in a way which suggests that the activities in question are, as it were, self-justifying, belonging to an exalted domain which is superior to ordinary mundane values.

In this extract, the famous nineteenth-century Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy puts severe pressure on this conception of art. In a highly entertaining eye-witness account of the rehearsals for an opera, Tolstoy points to the immense time, energy and expense, and above all the great personal sacrifice, that such productions demand.

His analysis forces us to confront the question of the moral status of art.

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Please read the extract (5 pages) from Tolstoy's book What is Art in advance of our discussion. You can find it on page 734 of this book.

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This is part of our Meaning of Life series.

We all seek meaning in our lives and dread futility. Philosophy doesn't provide facile answers, but the philosophical quest to make sense of our fleeting lives is one that we all share.

This group explores answers by discussing not only philosophical writing, but also literature and film.