The two great philosophers, Mo Tzu and Leo Tolstoy, have different opinions on how art should be handled. Mo Tzu’s essay titled Against Music is about how music is not beneficial. On the other hand, Leo Tolstoy’s essay titled What is Art? discusses that great art is understandable to everyone. Although they agree on that the elite is the only people who can enjoy art because art is expensive and scarce, there are many differences between the philosophers’ philosophies. Mo Tzu and Leo Tolstoy disagree on the place of art in society, the benefits of art, and the importance of art during this time period. Art is important to the philosophers, because it can make a big difference in societies by changing cultures and ideas . Art can affect the way societies function.
The philosophers differentiate in their ideas of art in society. Tzu believes art has no place in society, while Tolstoy is a strong advocate for art. Tzu says society only needs things that are useful and beneficial to it, and art is not one of these things that are useful (Tzu 237). In contrast,…show more content… Tzu’s ideas came from 425 B.C.E. Tzu believes for kings to enjoy art, they must tax the common people money for them to enjoy it (Tzu 237). He thinks that the taxes should be used to pay for far more important things like roads and canals (Tzu 237). This is important because during Tzu's time period, people disagreed with the waste of tax dollars on art. Many centuries later in 1896, Leo Tolstoy created his ideas about art. During this time period, people are unbothered about their taxes going to artistic things. Art is a bigger part of society during Tolstoy’s time period than during Tzu’s time period. The many centuries between the philosophers makes the ideas evolve. People contemporary to the philosophers share similar ideas. The time periods might be responsible for the philosophers differences in ideas about
