Hume

The first point of Hume’s writing Of the Standard of Taste that struck me was that “many of the beauties of poetry and even of eloquence are founded on falsehood and fiction.” I had never consciously realized this to be true, but it is because of this characteristic that art is able to take us out of ourselves to experience something beautiful. Describing a scene literally is not nearly as striking without the use of metaphor and other fictional alterations.

As far as the issue of “taste” itself, I think much of individual preference concerns personal experience and background. Just as Hume described, much has to do with the practice one has had and one’s level of bias and prejudice. Regarding practice and experience, one particular movie comes to mind. The movie Twilight came out this last fall, much to the excitement of a strongly female pre-teen and teenage demographic. Now I will admit I find the books to be entertaining, but the movie I found to be horribly directed. To a more experienced mind the movie was disappointing because of its unnecessary camera angles, sound effects, and jerky storyline. However, younger individuals found the film to be beautifully executed (I have a strong suspicion this was because of the abundance of “hotties”). This difference in opinion was probably due to the fact that I am more “practiced” in film.

As far as bias, I think this plays an equal part in what people do or do not find tasteful. Coincidentally, both pictures Professor Andersen placed online are a perfect example of this point. Neither of these pieces would be what I would consider to be “tasteful,” and I in fact feel quite the opposite about each of them. This is because of a personal prejudice I have toward monkeys and clown-like figures. I find monkeys to be absolutely awful creatures, and clowns make me uncomfortable. However, I know others love monkeys and think clowns are amusing. This difference is undoubtedly due to discrepancies in experiences.

While I’m sure I would be hard-pressed to find someone who did not find a sunset beach scene to be tasteful, there are other representations of scenes, objects, and creatures that I’m positive not everyone would agree upon. The appreciation of art is completely individual. To some rap is an example of art, to me it is simply obnoxious. This is probably due to my lack of practice and understanding of its mechanisms, as well as a strong bias I have held for a long time. “Taste” is a combination of societal norms, personal experience, and bias. Hume believed someone who was practiced and unprejudiced would be the best critic; I am inclined to believe he is absolutely correct.