Judgment of Taste

Paper Summary:

Both Immanuel Kant and David Hume hold that community, rather than merely individual response, plays a major role in the judgment of taste. Both Kant and Hume also hold that any single individual's judgment of taste is not superior over another. The paper explains that for there to be a meaningful definition of "judgment of taste," there must be some measure which transcends limited comparisons between individual judgment. For these two philosophers, the author finds, this measure is in part in the thing being presented and perceived and in part in the community of individuals doing the perceiving and responding. Nevertheless, the paper shows that the best their grand thinking achieves is that judgment of taste is achieved only through some sort of positive consensus won by an object over a long period of time and, preferably, over several cultures as well. It argues that the fact that the works they refer to are exclusively by white European males does not support the argument about the importance of cross-cultural judgment.

From the Paper:

"Still, even in such ideal circumstances, the individual will simply never be free of the "interest" which works to prejudice the individual's judgment on both the conscious and unconscious levels. If individual prejudice could be eliminated, of course, there would be no need for the philosophers to rely on the "community" aspect of the judgment of taste. The basis of this community aspect is a consensus, however Kant and Hume dress it up. If a work of art, for example, endures through generations and even centuries as an admired piece of work, as one which impresses the mind and stirs the emotions, then it can be said to have achieved a superior judgment of taste from the community."

More papers on Judgment of Taste:

• Argumentative Essay # 116494 : "Kant and the Sociology of Taste"
• Essay # 28090 : "Henry Allison's "Kant's Theory of Taste"
• Analytical Essay # 130477 : "Immanuel Kant and Judgment"

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