Every time I'm not reading, I'm thinking about reading.
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Taste is the faculty by which we make judgments about art.
The idea of taste itself has been paradoxical within itself. The quote below shows the contrast between personal desire and conformity with society.
The very notion of taste contains within itself two ideas in constant tension. First, taste is always personal: a judgment, but one’s own judgment. The idea derives from our physical sense of taste... And yet, however much we have a right to our own likes and dislikes, such judgments are often measured against a standard... These two principles—the autonomy of the individual taste and the existence of some broader principle of excellence—are perpetually at odds.
People fall into three different groups when it comes to taste:
The author, Thomas Kaminski, says that this is not a matter of intellect.
Art is not a part of the natural world; it is a human contrivance, and to appreciate it we must undergo some form of acculturation.
All responses to art, Hume’s essay argues, are fundamentally personal, but not all are equally valid. Some people are more sensitive to beauty than others. Some, better at recognizing what makes a work artful, possess sounder judgment. In Hume’s view, the man of taste possessed both sensibility and sense.
Impressionists had two qualities working in their favor: the paintings themselves were visually appealing, and the new aesthetic was easy to assimilate.