Full Idea
The estimation of the value of art …depends on men's perception of the meaning of life; depends on what they hold to be the good and evil of life.
Gist of Idea
People estimate art according to their moral values
Source
Leo Tolstoy (What is Art? [1898]), quoted by Iris Murdoch - The Sublime and the Good p.206
Book Reference
Murdoch,Iris: 'Existentialists and Mystics', ed/tr. Conradi,Peter [Chatto and Windus 1997], p.206
A Reaction
[No ref given] This is put to the test by the insightful depiction of wickedness. We condemn the wickedness and admire the insight. Every reading of a novel is a moral journey, though I'm not sure how the true psychopath reads a novel.