1. Leo Tolstoy: What is Art?
Tolstoy considers 2 questions:
What is a work of art?
What is a good work of art?
WHAT IS A WORK OF ART?
His discussion has two aspects.
The structure of the theory itself
The conditions under which an object is art.

2. The conditions under which an object is art
For something to be a work of art it must be "infectious". (The more infectious a work is the more we will be unified through it; i.e. we will all catch the same thing.)

3. There are 3 conditions that govern how infectious a work will be.
The more individual the feeling. (reaches deeper emotions rather than eliciting a surface response to a stereotype)
Clarity of expression.
Sincerity. (Artist working for her/himself, not for others.)
Tolstoy argues that the third, sincerity, is the most important as it contains the other three.

4. A Question for Tolstoy Is all communication of emotion considered art?
The answer is no, according to Tolstoy.
There must be both an "external sign" or medium and
Conscious, intentional manipulation of that medium.
The intention is not to create a work of art, but to transmit feeling through the use of a medium.
To INTEND to make a work of art is to make “counterfeit art.”

5. 2. WHAT IS A GOOD WORK OF ART?
For Tolstoy, a good work of art is one that reflects the religious perception of its age. He argues that
Every age has such a religious perception and that
The religious perception of his era is the brotherhood of mankind.

6. A Few Comments I
Tolstoy's notion of "religious perception" is wider than we are used to, bordering on what we call "moral standards.
This is a broader conception of value than aesthetic value, and it is this broader conception of value that is used to determine aesthetic value.

7. A Few Comments II
While we may object to Tolstoy's subordination of aesthetic value to moral value.
The positive aspect of Tolstoy's theory is that he raises the question of the connection of art with our most fundamental ethical, social and religious concerns.

8. Criticisms of Tolstoy's Theory
There are two kinds of criticisms that can be made of Tolstoy's theory.
General Criticisms.
Criticisms from the perspective of another theory of art.
The general criticisms derive from looking at both the factual and the logical issues.
Briefly, this involves looking at the way art is practiced and how we use our language.

9. The General Criticisms I
As a theory that claims that all art has a certain quality and only art has a certain quality, we can show the theory to be wrong by finding things that we standardly consider to be art that lack that quality, and by finding things that have that quality that we do not consider art. (These are called "counter-examples.)

10. The General Criticisms II
The counter-example to the statement "all artists express emotion in their work" would be an artist who clearly does not have this as her or his intention. (How we know this is another issue discussed below.) Examples: Carl Andre, Sol Lewitt.

11. The General Criticisms III
The counter-example to the statement "only artists express emotion in their work" would be anyone other than someone we consider an artist who expresses emotion in her or his work. It would seem many people do so, for example scientists, homemakers, students.
Note: These criticisms assume that we can agree on who we "standardly" consider to be an artist.

12. Criticisms from the perspective of another theory of art
The second kind of criticisms assume a certain model of aesthetic experience and focus on the claim that the spectator feels the same emotion as the artist.

13. "Criticisms from Another Theory" I: The “same emotion”
How can we determine from the work (that is, without information about the artist) what the artist felt while she or he was creating?
If we can't determine the artist's emotion, then how do we know that it is the same as the one the spectator is to feel?
And even if we can determine this the spectator may feel:
a) A different emotion or
b) No emotion at all.

14. "Criticisms from Another Theory" I: something to note
Those who criticize Tolstoy in this manner are claiming that to feel an emotion in the presence of a work of art is not necessarily to have an aesthetic experience.
For these people ordinary emotion and aesthetic experience are not the same thing.

15. "Criticisms from Another Theory" II: Where do these come from?
The above criticisms of Tolstoy's arguments are a consequence of certain theoretical assumptions concerning the nature of art.
Clive Bell's theory is one that makes the most of these assumptions.
Tolstoy could, of course, challenge these criticisms by trying to show that Bell's assumptions are faulty.