ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to reflect back on Count Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy’s reputation, on how best to label his thought, and on some of the reasons why it is rewarding to take him seriously. Tolstoy’s pacifism is more idealistic and categorical than it is practical and nuanced. It lays bare the deontological, virtue ethics, and consequentialist costs of violence, and refuses to allow a quick or easy escape for those who hold opinions that happen to implicitly or explicitly legitimise violence. Tolstoy’s anticlericalism contains a variety of criticisms of the church and is particularly ruthless owing to what Tolstoy felt to be an intolerable betrayal of Jesus’ teaching. Tolstoy’s asceticism demands austere self-control in areas of life as varied as sex and marriage, diet and luxuries, and engagement with art. Tolstoy’s activism is unusual in its insistence on bypassing traditional political channels.
