Sun Tzu Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (; ; also rendered as Sunzi) was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer, and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of "The Art of War", a widely influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thinking. His works focus much more on alternatives to battle- such as stratagem, delay, the use of spies, and alternatives to war itself- the making and keeping of alliances, the uses of deceit, and a willingness to submit, at least
What Is Art? to justify their own tastes. Jahn notes the "often confusing use of categorisation" and the lack of definition of the key concept of emotion. Bayley writes that "the effectiveness of "What is Art?" lies not so much in its positive assertions as in its rejection of much that was taken for granted in the aesthetic theories of the time". Noyes criticises Tolstoy's dismissal of beauty, but states that, "despite its shortcomings", "What is Art?" "may be pronounced the most stimulating critical work of our time". Simmons mentions the "occasional brilliant passages" along with the "repetition, awkward language, and loose terminology".