Art and the source of beauty

Iv. Astakhov, A. Egorov and other Soviet aestheticians are at the forefront of the struggle for a truly Marxist formulation of the question of aesthetics and beauty, against the subjectivist deviations of the "socialists" - a large group of theorists who have also gained popularity in our country. Our "socialists" were recently opposed by Acad. T. Pavlov (newspaper "Nar. Kultura" from 8. VI. vol. 2001). The systematic, although not large, work of Iv. Astakhov brings more clarity to the formulation of the questions. EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT THE AESTHETIC but ... WHAT IS THE AESTHETIC? The author makes an analogy with a thought of Belinsky, who wrote about his time that everyone talks about nationality, but "few realize what nationality is, although the word seems simple and understandable." And he sets out to examine the relationship between the practical and the aesthetic in order to explain its essence. Iv. Astakhov began to study the aesthetic by revealing the essence of art according to the well-known Marxian method of searching for the specificity of phenomena in their highest forms of manifestation. The author begins by examining the broad meaning of the concept of art: "In every area of ​​human activity there is such a degree of mastery of labor habits, such a skill for their application, which best corresponds to a certain goal, plan." And he concludes that art is the ability to achieve high quality, perfection" in any activity.