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Tim Miller's avatar

Very interesting. Your definition gets some traction with me. And I loved this phrase you used and perhaps coined: "howmany dollars."

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Mike Mallory's avatar

FWIW I believe the most useful definition (mine) is purely functional, to wit: art is the intentional communication of an experience as an end in itself.

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David Cycleback's avatar

That's more or less what Tolstoi said

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Clay JK's avatar

Hey! This was interesting with way more citations of varying viewpoints. Thanks for putting this together. Definitely is a hard question to answer even though it’s three words. I’m obviously more on the Tolstoy-side of things, where one’s view does need to consider their own cultural background and background of the artist. Also, check out that economic NBER study I referenced in the post if you have the time. It rubs off of a variant of Tolstoy’s idea. https://clayjk.substack.com/p/dude-seriously-what-is-art

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