Art as an Object of Taste

Art as an Object of Taste

Class Reading: Thomas Wartenberg/Nature of Art

November 16, 2015

David Hume, the 18th century skeptic and empiricist inquires whether there are objective standards in art. He is amazed how people from different ages, governments, countries, and cultures can all agree that a specific piece of art is beautiful. While acknowledging that there is “a great variety of taste” he searches for a standard of taste that constitutes human perception of beauty. He wants to know what the basis for critical judgements of art and beauty are. Hume holds that beauty is not a quality found in an object or experience but rather a perception of the mind projected onto an object or experience. He attempts to solve his dilemma by saying that there are certain attributes in art that appeal to all humans. Thus, there may be universal agreement that one piece of art is more beautiful than another. Hume seems to take every measure of precaution in acknowledging the universal susceptibility to find value in specific characteristics of art while refusing to admit to objective beauty. Afraid of accepting objectivity in taste, Hume says that only people who are “improved by practice, perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice” are able to recognize the attributes that make art good, beautiful, and true.