# Art as a Means of Human Union in What Is Art?

> Theme guide for What Is Art? by Leo Tolstoy.

Art is presented as a vital spiritual organ for humanity, essential for uniting people across time and space through shared feelings, and for progressing toward collective well-being and brotherhood.

## Where it surfaces

- [Chapter V: The Infection Theory of Art](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/chapters/v): Art is described as a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, indispensable for life and progress.
- [Chapter XIII: Wagner and the Counterfeit of Art](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/chapters/xiii): Implied in the critique: Wagner's forced union of music and drama fails to achieve the genuine union of artistic infection that true art creates.
- [Chapter XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/chapters/xvi): True Christian art unites all people through love and simple universal feelings, while exclusive art divides.
- [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/chapters/xviii): True art transmits feelings that unite all people without exception, and the highest aim of art is to contribute to the brotherhood and unity of mankind.
- [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/chapters/xix): Tolstoy emphasizes that future art will transmit feelings that draw people together in brotherly union.
- [XX: The Conclusion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/chapters/xx-the-conclusion): Tolstoy argues that art's destiny is to establish brotherly union among men, transmitting the feeling of love and unity.
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/chapters/iv): The shared experience of these poems, with their universal themes of love, loss, and mortality, illustrates art's power to unite readers across time and culture.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/themes/art_as_a_means_of_union
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/what_is_art_se/themes