The Kingdom of God Is Within You
&
What Is Art?
Two Philosophical Works on Morality,
Nonviolence,
and the Meaning of Art
What if the beliefs you take for granted are wrong?
What if society’s understanding of power, morality, religion, and even art deserves to be challenged?
And what if one of the greatest novelists in history devoted the final decades of his life to asking these very questions?
In this thought-provoking volume, Leo Tolstoy turns from fiction to philosophy, presenting two of his most influential and controversial works: The Kingdom of God Is Within You and What Is Art?
Written after the success of War and Peace and Anna Karenina, these works reveal a different side of Tolstoy—not the storyteller, but the thinker. Having achieved literary fame and worldly success, Tolstoy became increasingly concerned with deeper questions about morality, truth, purpose, justice, and the responsibilities we owe to one another.
In The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Tolstoy presents a powerful examination of conscience, nonviolence, and the relationship between individual morality and political authority. Challenging many accepted assumptions of his time, he argues that lasting change begins not through force, but through personal conviction and moral responsibility. The work would later influence some of the most important social reformers in modern history, including Mahatma Gandhi.
In What Is Art?, Tolstoy turns his attention to culture itself. Rejecting the idea that art exists merely for beauty or entertainment, he asks a provocative question: what purpose should art serve in human life? His answers continue to spark debate more than a century after they were first published.
What makes these works so compelling is not whether readers agree with every conclusion. It is the courage of the questions themselves.
What is right?
What is meaningful?
How should we live?
What responsibilities do we have toward others?
What role should art play in society?
These are not merely nineteenth-century concerns. They remain among the most important questions of our own time.
For readers who enjoy philosophy, ethics, religion, social criticism, and the exploration of big ideas, this volume offers a fascinating opportunity to engage directly with one of history’s most influential thinkers at the height of his intellectual and moral development.
Some books provide answers.
The most important books challenge us to think more deeply about the questions.
This collection does exactly that.
Ready to explore ideas that can change the way you see the world?
Related Novels
Related Authors
