In this essay I shall assess David Hume’s thoughts and assessments on the standards of taste in the aesthetic world. As a philosopher who was more interested in critiquing art rather than explaining it, Hume began to formulate how art should be perceived or understood by form of ‘taste’ and the standards that accompanied it such as impressions. Hume relates aesthetic judgments to moral judgments as well, and differentiates between two types of aesthetic taste.
Hume uses significant terms in his texts that provide useful for distinguishing and assessing the standards of taste for aesthetics. For objects of taste, the terms “approbation” or “disapprobation” are used to describe a “taste in morals, eloquence, or beauty”. It is important to understand that approbation is a form of pleasure different from other forms, and that this form of pleasure is associated with approval. Disapprobation on the other hand, holds a …show more content…
He fuses wisdom and vulgar taste into the aesthetic theory and having an understanding to make inferences leads to a belief. That belief is what influences taste. Hume’s standard of taste opens the imagination up to the rules of the observer and notes that good taste should be more stable than vulgar taste. This good taste represents a view appropriate to its subject. This good taste, or refined taste, is the preferred and general view that combines with approbation while a vulgar taste lacks reliable credibility. Regardless whether or not the general rules of taste aren’t set in stone, having them there provides support that practicing the use of taste will improve it. Having a greater experience or knowledge in a certain subject matter will inevitably lead to a more accurate and credible view on objects or works of art that will open the observer to a more enhanced experience of