Clear all
Work #1156 · Mid

What I Believe

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
1883-84 · Russian
Religious-philosophical treatise · Russian religious-philosophical tradition / Christian anarchism

Tolstoy's 1884 systematic exposition — the Sermon on the Mount as the proper foundation of Christian life

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute What I Believe (Mid)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Singular
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Revelation
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Discrete

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

What I Believe

The 1883-84 post-Confession period of Tolstoy's systematic religious-philosophical exposition.

Space

What I Believe

Yasnaya Polyana and the broader Russian-international religious-political setting.

Matter

What I Believe

The embodied Christian-anarchist community whose proper life the work specifies.

Observer

What I Believe

Tolstoy as religious-philosophical systematic expositor.

Energy

What I Believe

The religious-political energies of the Christian-anarchist position.

Information

What I Believe

The systematic religious-philosophical content of the treatise.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

What I Believe

Tolstoy's Christian anarchism has been variously assessed — defenders (Gandhi, the Catholic Worker, modern pacifist tradition) take it as foundational, critics (Orthodox, mainstream political tradition) see it as both heretical and politically unworkable.