...having acknowledged the measure of the good to be pleasure, i.e., beauty, the European upper classes went back in their comprehension of art to the gross conception of the primitive Greeks which Plato had already condemned. And with this understanding of life, a theory of art was formulated.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Tolstoy claims European upper classes equated good with pleasure/beauty, reverting to a primitive Greek view that Plato criticized, and built an art theory on this.
- In plain terms
- By defining good as pleasure, the upper classes returned to an old Greek idea Plato disliked and created a theory of art based on it.
- What can you take from it?
- Defining life by pleasure leads to an art theory based on primitive concepts.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is art meant to please or to teach?
- How do class interests shape art theory?
Another view
Equating all upper class views with one primitive conception ignores diversity in historical aesthetics.
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