Within David Hume's Standards of Taste we see the exploration of the idea that the level of beauty of how successful an artwork is relies entirely on the audience's personal response. By approaching this idea from many different viewpoints, although Hume focuses the primary point of his argument from the viewer’s perspective instead of the viewpoint of the meaning that is found when looking at the painting directly, basing his argument on the fact that, “though the principles of taste be universal, and nearly, if not entirely, the same in all men; yet few are qualified to give judgement on any work of art, or establish their own sentiment as the standard of beauty.” This technique is one that is found to be used prominently throughout Hume's …show more content…
He supports the idea that "we pronounce, without scruple, the sentiment of these pretend critics to be absurd and ridiculous." Suggesting that even though there is some things that can effect and change an individual’s taste and opinion although “the grosser and more palpable qualities of the object,” are the most noticed while, “The finer touches pass unnoticed and disregarded.” Therefore we can assume that Hume assumes the fact that that only people that have a higher standard or judgement of art will understand the full meaning and be able to make a refined opinion, which is a quality that involves great knowledge and time which subsequently has to be established over time, hence the small amount of people who obtain these …show more content…
After both men drink, one says that he thinks the alcohol has an underlying taste of leather, while the other suggests a taste of iron. While they both ridiculed the other on their judgements, when the hogshead was drained a key with a leather tie was found at the bottom. “Though it be certain, that beauty and deformity, more than sweet and bitter, are not qualities in objects, but belong entirely to the sentiment, internal or external; it must be allowed, that there are certain qualities in objects, which are fitted by nature to produce those particular feelings.” So, from this we can see that Hume then relates this concept to that of prejudice and opinion within critics saying that the inner thoughts and experience of an individual is what is going to affect them the most when looking at an artwork, and while this opinion may be different to another, it does not make it
...er pleasure later. However, this opinion does not account for actions excluding one’s appetite taken at the end (or even causing the end) of one’s life, like in giving one’s life for that of a loved one. In that case, the person would be intentionally forgoing passion forever in search of something else. Hume’s argument does not make provision for this. In fact, the only objection one could make to this last example is to say that a man who gives his life for his friend has a miseducated or depraved soul, yet no one seems to make this argument.
From the distinction of perceptions, Hume created his ‘microscope’ in order to trace all ideas back to impressions. He did this to search for the limits. If an idea could not be traced back to its impression, it was too abstruse. Hume separated the objects of human reason into two categories. First, the relation of ideas, which represented all that is ‘a priori’. Secondly, he created the category of matters of fact. Matters of fact made up the ‘a posteriori’ piece of the spectrum of reason. Matters of fact are contingent, meaning they could be otherwise.
Before Hume can begin to explain what morality is, he lays down a foundation of logic to build on by clarifying what he thinks the mind is. Hume states that the facts the mind sees are just the perceptions we have of things around us, such as color, sound, and heat (Hume, 215). These perceptions can be divided into the two categories of ideas and impressions (215). Both of these categories rely on reason to identify and explain what is observed and inferred. However, neither one of these sufficiently explains morality, for to Hume, morals “. . .excite passions, and produce or prevent actions” (216)....
Hume draws upon the idea of building knowledge from experiences and introduces the concept of ca...
However, Hume warns Smith that if sympathy is always agreeable it is inconsistent to admit any disagreeable sentiments from sympathy in his system. Smith responds: I answer, that in the sentiment of approbation there are two things to be taken notice of; first, the sympathetic passion of the spectator; and, secondly, the emotion which arises from his observing the perfect coincidence between this sympathetic passion in himself, and the original passion in the person principally concerned. This last emotion, in which the sentiment of approbation properly consists, is always agreeable and delightful.
Just as other works that reflect art, pieces in the category of fine arts serve the important message of passing certain messages or portraying a special feeling towards a particular person, function or activity. At times due to the nature of a particular work, it can become so valuable that its viewers cannot place a price on it. It is not the nature or texture of an art that qualifies it, but the appreciation by those who look at it (Lewis & Lewis, 2008).
Essentially, perceptions encompass every object the mind can be conscious of, from colors to feelings. In his theory, the ultimate distinction within perceptions is between ideas, or thoughts, and impressions. He thought that impressions were stronger and more vibrant perceptions, while ideas were feebler and weaker perceptions that occur when imagining or thinking. Hume stated that “…impressions comprehend all our sensations, passions, and emotions, as they make their first appearance in the soul…concretely, impressions comprise all our more lively perceptions, when we hear, or see, or feel, or love, or hate, or desire, or will.”
Disinterested pleasure is proposed by Kant to be the purest form of an aesthetic judgment, leaving the viewer able to look past any outside concerns, conforming with reality. With this process the spectator should be able to experience the art work free from their own desires or interests. A perfect example would be The Pond at Montgeran (Monet, 1876) that depicts a picturesque scene of a pond, rimmed with trees, that any spectator could appreciate the beauty of but not left harbouring desires for. Even though judgements of taste “cannot be other than subjective” (Kant, 2007: 1), it also has an element of the universal voice. Although everyone has different ideals of beauty, humans as a unit can collectively agree on what is beautiful with the use of their cognitive and agreeable faculties.
Firstly Hume’s idea of ‘agreeableness’ of a work art shall be addressed, and how the idea of the test of time can result in unanimity of in aesthetic judgement as evidence that there can be an objective standard for aesthetic judgement. This shall be confirmed by examining Hume’s non-cognitivist account of aesthetic judgement proposing that no properties of objects can make them viable candidates for aesthetic evaluation, only the immediate and spontaneous reactions that they can evoke from us can. After this has been established it will then be shown that due to the shared nature of the human species, such aesthetic sentiments can display reasonable uniformity. Although it will have already been established that a uniformity of taste exists, it will be discussed how aesthetic sentiments can be improved by a sound understanding of what is being appreciated, as it is possible for some aesthetic judgments to be better than others, through aesthetic judgment of individuals that Hume regards as being good critics, who have well-tuned aesthetic sensibilit...
Hume argued that, “A man in a fit of anger, is actuated in a very different manner from one who only thinks of that in emotion,” (Hume, An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding, p. 10). Here, it seems that Hume is merely sparking the idea that what we perceive can be graded in a scale of intensity when it comes to whether a person acts on their ideas or just thinks of them – this determines whether something is an idea or a perception. Hume resolves that if a man is angry, but still can determine whether his anger is truly passionate enough to act out insanities, then his anger is only an idea. If a man has enough desire to act out his anger then this man is under the impression that his anger is true and real – this is all the man
“The great variety of Taste, as well as of opinion, which prevails in the world, is too obvious not to have fallen under every one’s observation”(text pg 255), Hume states in his opening. He then points out, “Every voice is united in applauding,”(text pg 255) all kinds of values like “elegance” and “simplicity” that are supposedly seen in an object. Hume conveys the idea that every person has their own unique tastes in art, and they all seem to agree on the aesthetic value of an object. He then brings in the critic who analyzes the pieces of the object and proposes that all previous judgments were not accurate. Hume says, “But when the critic comes to particulars, this seeming unanimity vanishes”(text pg 255).
In Appendix I., Concerning Moral Sentiment, David Hume looks to find a place in morality for reason, and sentiment. Through, five principles he ultimately concludes that reason has no place within the concept of morality, but rather is something that can only assist sentiment in matters concerning morality. And while reason can be true or false, those truths or falsities apply to facts, not to morality. He then argues morals are the direct result of sentiment, or the inner feeling within a human being. These sentiments are what intrinsically drive and thus create morality within a being.
Hume uses senses, like Descartes, to find the truth in life. By using the senses he states that all contents of the mind come from experience. This leads to the mind having an unbound potential since all the contents are lead by experiences. The mind is made up two parts impressions and ideas. Impressions are the immediate data of the experience. For example, when someone drops a book on the desk and you hear a loud sound. The sight of the book dropping and hitting the desk is registered by an individual’s senses- sight, sound, feeling. Hume believes there are two types of impressions, original and secondary impressions. Original impressions are based on the senses,
David Hume, following this line of thinking, begins by distinguishing the contents of human experience (which is ultimately reducible to perceptions) into: a) impressions and b) ideas.