Developing a Fine Literary Taste: A Journey Worth Pursuing
David Hume sheds light on preferences and the standard of taste
Some people enjoy sipping Cosmopolitan, while reading a trendy chick lit by the pool. Others prefer the comfort of their couch and the company of thrilling crimes veiled in mystery. There are those whose preferences are catered best by the captivating visuals of graphic novels, while others are likely to turn their back to anything unless it’s a classic. As philosopher David Hume says:
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.¹
Different types of readers prefer distinct genres, and most of them couldn’t care less about the comments a snobbish literary critic might make about their choice of book. After all, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Thus, readers can agree to disagree about what is fine literature because that would depend on what’s fine with them and their personal preferences, right?
Let’s see!
Of The Standard of Taste
David Hume was not your typical anti-social thinker. The man had, presumably, a fine taste for parties. So, it shouldn’t come as surprise that he put some thought into what it means for one to have a fine aesthetic judgement. In his Of The Standard of Taste (1757), Hume tries to reconcile a paradox.
On one hand, as the proverb suggests,
DE GUSTIBUS NON DISPUTANDEM EST
There is no dispute about taste, as it’s something subjective. Your friend may not like the book you are currently reading, but you do. So to you, it’s good. Full stop.
Yet, on the other hand, it seems that one can be right or wrong about matters of taste. It’s like coming out of the theater utterly disappointed. That movie was complete trash and whoever says it’s not, is wrong!
So, is taste subjective or objective? And could it be both?
In a nutshell, according to Hume, while aesthetic judgement is subjective, there can nonetheless be a universal standard of taste. One that can serve as a criterion for the correctness of your subjective preferences.
“But who is to set that standard,” you may ask.
“The joint verdict of the true judges,” Hume would answer.
On Fine Taste
Surely, there must be a reason why we crown certain people as having a good taste, right? It’s like we intuitively agree that some of us either have an inborn sense of beauty and appreciation for it, or that they have grown to develop one. But what does it mean to have a good aesthetic judgement and how do you fine tune yours?
Here is the philosopher’s recipe:
(A) true judge in the finer arts is observed, even during the most
polished ages, to be so rare a character; strong sense, united to delicate sentiment, improved by practice, perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice, can alone entitle critics to this valuable character; and the joint verdict of such … is the true standard of taste and beauty.²
Notice that the true judges are rare, so they’re not equivalent to the profession of a modern day critic or professor. Moreover, establishing the standard requires an agreement among several true judges. Simply put, it’s not an easy task.
Although Hume’s account is far from flawless, let’s suppose he was right. Why should we as writers care about having fine tuned literary preferences?
The answer is as easy, as it is obvious. Because, hopefully, we all strive to become better at what we do. However, if we want to level up our writing, we need to learn from the best.
And how do we do that?
Ideally, we find our literary sensei who can prompt us to see aspects of certain authors and works we might have missed, who will warn us off prejudices and help us make correct comparisons.
I can tell you from personal experience that at the beginning of my writing journey, my criteria for a good read was not as refined as it is now. Admittedly, I didn’t quite get what made some of the great authors so great.
That said, throughout the years, the more I learned about the mechanics of writing, the more cultivated my reading preferences became, and vice versa. I started paying attention to the complexities of themes, symbolism, character development, narrative structure, and language use. And once I open up to these things, it was hard to go back to poorly written stories, full of cliches, and delight on them.
In case you don’t have a literary sensei around you, you can start by asking yourself a few simple questions. Why do you like the books you do? What is good about the storytelling? What could be done better? You can do your research and expand your knowledge on the, often dry, yet much needed literary theories and techniques. Inferior literature always seem better when we barely have anything to compare it with. Thus, as Hume would suggest, we need to read and compare works from different eras, cultures, and genres, while setting aside all prejudices.
If you are anything like me — utterly curious, you’d probably find pleasure in hanging out with people who are experts in certain fields. Like sipping wine on a lovely evening with a sommelier who can guide you through the process of wine making, it’s captivating aromas and symphony of flavors that dance upon your palate. They will mention things like terroir expression, oak touch, the crisp acidity of a Sauvignon Blanc, or the luscious dark berry notes of a Cabernet Sauvignon.
This expert may not be equivalent to Hume’s true judge, but they will bring you closer to the standard of wine taste. As Aristotle would suggest, it’s through the direct acquaintance with the goodness, which is made increasingly vivid by the experience itself, that one is more likely to be affected and awakened to the fine.³
Circling back to where we started, I’m not here to tell you to read classics, even thought some classics are great. I believe that there are many unknown or less known authors across different genres that are exemplary. But I do urge you to be curious, to expand your literary knowledge by exploring new authors, styles, and literary traditions. Do that in the name of both refining your literary preferences as a reader, and polishing your writing style.
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References:
¹ Hume, David. Of the standard of taste. Good Press, 2021.
² Ibid.
³ Aristotle. Nicomachean ethics. Translated by Terence Irwin. Hackett Publishing, 2019.
