Of the Standard of Taste Hume Of the Standard of Taste

Portrait of David Hume Esq.

Career 1711-1776, educated in Edinburgh Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40) Essays Moral Political and Literary (1751) Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748) Dialogues concerning Natural Religion (1779) Of the Standard of Taste (1757)

Of the Standard of Taste Hume’s best known treatise on aesthetics Taste was a fashionable subject in the 18th century The idea of an inner sense Tries to resolve the contradiction between subjectivity and objectivity in judgements of taste

The problem There is no standard of taste (individuality) Taste concerns our sentiments, not the intrinsic nature of the object No one can be wrong in matters of taste Yet some people are better judges in matters of art than others and some works more recognised than others There is a standard of taste (authority) Subjectivity and no one wrong / some wrong, some right / objectivity; for Hume a question of experience; caused by intrinsic qualities of the work.

The essay Relativity of taste Two views of taste Taste and opinion Taste and moral sentiments Two views of taste A species of philosophy vs. Common sense Rules derived from experience Conditions of proper appreciation Two sources of variation

Relativity (variety) of taste Taste and opinion Taste and morality

Two views of taste A species of philosophy Common sense

A species of philosophy Judgement (intellect, reason) Sentiment (feeling, instinct)

Difference Opinions refer to matters of fact Sentiments refer to themselves Only one opinion may be right All sentiments are right

Subjectivity of aesthetic judgements When I say: How this is beautiful! I mean: I have a certain feeling! The judgement is not about anything in the object but about my own inner state of mind

Why are sentiments right? They do not represent what is really in the object They mark a certain relation between the object and the mind Example: Colours

Common sense Some authors are better than others Some critics are better than others

Explanation The aesthetic qualities are derived from qualities in the objects Intrinsic qualities in the objects cause a certain feeling in the subject But the aesthetic qualities are not in the object Everything depends upon the reception

Hume’s position Judgements of taste are subjective Describe the emotional attitude of the individual Do not describe real qualities of things And based on experience Not on any a-priori rules or principles But experience can reveal uniformities

Where do standards come from? Experience reveals certain rules of art General conformity in what has pleased mankind in all ages and countries Not agreement on everything Depends on conditions of appreciation

Conditions of appreciation Delicacy (sensitivity) Practice (experience) Comparison (knowledge) Absence of prejudice (open-mindedness) Good sense (reason)

Sensitivity So fine that nothing is left So exact that each detail is included

Experience and knowledge Each work must be considered more than once From different points of view Avoid rashness Evaluate the comparative value of works

Open-mindedness Nothing must disturb the attention to the work itself The work must be observed on its own premisses From the point of view which suits it best

Reason Prevents the effect of prejudice Considers the structure of the work (harmony and unity of the whole) Discovers the purpose of the work of art (if and how it achieves that purpose)

Variation Personality and temperement Cultural and historical context

Hume’s paradox Good art is the one that good critics estimate to be good A good critic is one who can appreciate good art

Kant on the same subject Subjective Universal Disinterested pleasure Not from: Gratification Not from: Purpose Not from: Moral laudability

Bourdieu on taste Socially acquiered (habitus) not natural Serves as mark of “distinction”