Beauty and taste
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Flip to reveal answersBeauty — object or beholder?
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All 8 Flashcards — Beauty and taste
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Question
Beauty — object or beholder?
Answer
The puzzle: is beauty a real feature of the thing, or a pleasure it causes in the viewer's taste?
Question
Taste?
Answer
A person's capacity to respond to and judge beauty.
Question
Why does 'all just opinion' prove too much?
Answer
It flattens a masterpiece and a scribble together, yet we clearly think some beauty-judgements are better.
Question
Hume's 'standard of taste'?
Answer
The settled verdict of experienced, unprejudiced judges — beauty is a response in us, but better judges exist.
Question
What makes someone a better judge (Hume)?
Answer
Wide experience of art, ability to compare, freedom from prejudice, and an eye for fine detail others miss.
Question
Hume's clever move?
Answer
He shifts the standard from the OBJECT to the best JUDGES — keeping 'beauty is a response' AND 'some art really is better'.
Question
'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' — verdict?
Answer
Half-right: beauty is a response in us, but Hume shows there are better and worse beholders, so taste isn't anything-goes.
Question
How does Hume answer disagreement?
Answer
Disagreement doesn't prove there's no answer; it may just show some judges see more clearly than others.
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Full study notes for Beauty and taste
Topic 2.3 hub
Aesthetic experience and judgement
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