Arquivo de philosophy | Page 98 of 124

What is art?, by Leo Tolstoy

Very interesting essay, as always, in the case of this plume. To Tolstoy, the work of art is a means of transmitting feelings, that is to say: regardless of the qualitative character of the feeling expressed,—which can be good, bad, strong, weak…—the artistic work fulfills its role as long as this feeling communicated by the artist is experienced by those who come in contact with it. And the master, without evasions, carries out the consequences of this proposition, judging the various aesthetic theories over time and citing numerous artists as examples of great, bad, true, and false art. Essentially, he says, art is not a search for “beauty”,—nor any other abstraction,—but an instrument that enables the artist to transmit that which extrapolates the rational argument, to transmit personal feelings experienced by the author. Art, thus, establishes a link between the artist and the common man, justifying its noble role in society since it allows anyone to have experiences that would not be possible by any other means. Tolstoy also judges the art of his time mostly corrupted and risks some comments about the “art of the future”. The essay dates from 1898, the master passed away in 1910: he spared himself from witnessing how unfortunately all his predictions would fall by the wayside…

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No to the Linguistic Cheating!

I read a hundred pages of Heidegger and throw the volume into space. Unbearable! A hundred sterile pages wrapped in the most abstract language of the universe, a hundred pages of rhetoric that seems deep, but clouds the thought, deceives by pretending to approach the last truths by being nothing but hollow and evasive. Terrible, terrible… But how pleasant it was to interrupt the linguistic cheating! to say no to the falsification of philosophy! Forgive me, idolaters, but I only see value in philosophy useful to someone who, in desperation, puts the barrel of a gun against a temple. Although, in truth, one Heidegger page is enough for anyone to pull the trigger…

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The Construction of a Logical Monument

I smile as I perceive my disgust with philosophical systems. The construction of a logical monument; the framing of reality, in all its infinite nuances, in a rational system: none of this arouses my interest, all this seems to me to come from a primary error. The construction of a philosophical system requires the mutilation of reality: its applicability in the real world, in practical life, is almost null. What is left beyond the system? Is there anything capable of impacting a conduct, altering a relationship between an individual and a medium, shaping a real posture? This is what I ask myself when I judge the work of a philosopher, and I smile when I see my inability to embark on the delirium and consider as wonderful that which is only applicable in the world of abstractions. The good philosophy must be able to see the jail, the madhouse, the monastery, and the whorehouse.

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The Evolved Conscience Has to Behave as a Company

It is curious to note the movement of mass psychology. Beyond the utilitarian notion of value, now the evolved consciousness has to behave as a company, that is, not only to accept them gladly but also to long for feedbacks. Listen, O soul, ask for them and thank them, always! And the relationships—all of them!—have a commercial character. That is to say: the human being comes into existence for “customer satisfaction”. With a smile stretched out on his face, he shows maturity when he strives to please. Always the others, always the extra, always the group as sovereign criteria of validation of one’s own acts. And the “common sense” forcing the universality of submission. Oh, species! whose remnants of dignity seem subordinate to a voluntary migration of individuals back to the forest…

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