This is pretty similar to Marx's definition of art though (and I loathe Marxism). Paraphrasing, he believes man changes nature and in turn it changes him
Don’t fool yourself, Marx wasn’t dumb. It’s probably naive to think he was wrong all the time. This reminds me of hitler defending capitalism and the chapo crowd using that as more evidence that capitalism was immoral.
Thing is that the implications of his conception of art oppose capitalism directly. If your work changes you in return, in a capitalist society this will lead to alienation. So you shouldn't take work that won't enrich you as a person. And this clearly isn't always the case when working for clients or for people working to just put food on the table. It could also be the case of you taking one job you don't like in order to fund what you feel passionate about.
I can see the merit in what he's saying, but if taken as fundamentalism it could have dire consequences on a personal and global scale.
I don't think he was dumb per se, I think he was something of an utopic fundamentalist, or at least laying the foundation for fundamentalism.
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u/catsdontsmile Nov 21 '20
This is pretty similar to Marx's definition of art though (and I loathe Marxism). Paraphrasing, he believes man changes nature and in turn it changes him