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September 21, 2005
tolston on art II
Art, like speech, is a means of communication, and therefore of progress, i.e., of the movement of humanity forward toward perfection. Speech renders accessible to men of the latest generation all the knowledge discovered by the experience and reflection, both of preceding generations and of the best and foremost men of their own times; art renders accessible to the men of the latest generation all the feelings experienced by their predecessors, and those also which are being felt by their best and foremost contemporaries. And as the evolution of knowledge proceeds by truer and more necessary knowledge , dislodging and replacing what is mistaken and unnecessary, so the evolution of feeling proceed through art-feelings less kind and less needful for that end. That is the purpose of art. And speaking now of its subject matter, the more art fulfills that purpose the better the art, and the less it fulfills it, the worse the art.
Leo Tolstoy - What Is Art?
Posted by amin at September 21, 2005 11:15 AM
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