Judgments Of Taste Research Articles

Beauty Makes Humanity: The Application of Kant’s Aesthetic Power of Judgment in Value Choice

Abstract In this paper, I use Kant’s theory of the aesthetic power of judgment to solve the problem of nonmoral value choice, which Kant himself did not deal with, and prove that my reconstruction can fit into Kant’s philosophy and function as a harmonization and unification of morality and happiness. First, I revisit Kant’s early view of intellectualized happiness to establish the feasibility of this project in Kant’s ethics. Second, by analogy with the contemplative judgment of taste and practical artistic creation, I argue for the universal communicability of pleasure in value choice from the transcendental perspective, on the one hand, and explain the various choices by individuals in reality from the empirical perspective, on the other. Ultimately, I connect the pursuit of intellectual happiness with the fulfillment of the imperfect duty of one’s own perfection, through which a transition from nature to freedom can be accomplished in Kant’s philosophy.

칸트의 취미판단 이론에 기반을 둔 무용 감상

This study explores the four moments of the judgments of taste proffered by Immanuel Kant and examines the directions for teaching how to appreciate dance based on such an exploration from the perspective of the teachers. Taking the judgements of taste into consideration, teachers shall seek the following guidance in dance appreciation class: First, to foster the audience to experience the disinterested satisfaction; second, to make them appropriately explain their judgments on the work; third, to facilitate them to find the beauty of natural dance which does not lean extremely towards the concepts and principles of dance; and lastly, encourage them to experience “the quality” of appreciation in harmony by sharing each other’s appreciations. The theory of the judgements of taste is significant in that it provides us with the fundamental ways to appreciate dance.

Cultural participation and taste cultivation in a transitional setting: museum education fever in contemporary China

ABSTRACT Despite an extensive body of literature that has examined the role of museums in cultural reproduction and public education, most of the current discussion is western-centred. Whilst explorations of museum education in developing countries often focus on the institution, the agency perspective regarding how different social groups negotiate access to museum resources is relatively understudied. Aiming to address these lacunae, this paper presents a qualitative case study of a major museum in Hangzhou, China, focusing on how people from distinct social groups, with different orientations to cultural consumption, developed multiple strategies for cultural participation in museums. Their practices arguably reinforced and justified a dispositioned judgment of taste and class identities that mirror the social transition of contemporary China. Conceptually addressing Bourdieu’s theories of ‘cultural capital’ and ‘taste’, this study explores the dialectics between culture and power and demonstrates the complexity of cultural reproduction in a state-funded museum.

Democratizing opera. Accessibility to opera in the digital age among Swedish-speaking Finns

ABSTRACT This paper builds on recent debates within cultural policy and cultural studies, arguing that questions of cultural meaning-making processes need to be taken into account when assessing accessibility issues discussed in current academic and political contexts. Approaching opera as a cultural phenomenon in the context of a minority culture, the paper focuses on the alleged democratization process entailed by digitalization. Departing from the division between the democratization of culture, referring to the dissemination of cultural works to those lacking access, and cultural democracy, in short, to value the subjective judgement of taste, the paper aims to investigate the connections between the meaning of opera and the cultural context in which this meaning is conceptualized. The opera culture among the Swedish-speaking Finns, a small, heterogeneous language minority, is used as a case study. The paper concludes that as long as the cultural meaning of opera is to stand for valuable, high culture, attempts to democratize opera will lead to new renegotiations between the high and the common. Understanding such connections between cultural policies concerning digital accessibility and cultural meaning is especially important in the post-pandemic era.

Stendhal’s Definition of Beauty, in and as Philosophy

Abstract In On the Genealogy of Morals (1887), Friedrich Nietzsche misquotes Stendhal’s definition of beauty. Beauty is not, as the German philosopher claims, “a promise of happiness” (72). Rather, Stendhal proposes in a footnote to his book De l’amour (1822)—in a chapter entitled “La Beauté détrônée par l’amour”—that “la beauté n’est que la promesse du bonheur” (40). Nevertheless, Nietzsche’s misquotation of Stendhal and his subsequent interpretation of the French author’s aesthetics have held sway in later philosophy, such that Stendhal is regularly recruited to endorse views about beauty quite dissimilar from his own. This article approaches Stendhal as a philosopher in order to develop a clearer sense of what the author really meant by characterizing beauty as “only a promise of happiness.” Through close readings of De l’amour and Rome, Naples, et Florence, it is proposed that Stendhal’s restrictive only allows for and even recommends so-called mere judgments of beauty, or the experience of beauty as a completed pleasure in reflective contemplation, as opposed to the Nietzschean reading of Stendhal, which would define judgments of beauty as forepleasures to future satisfactions. More importantly, this article aims to recover what Stendhal still has to teach present-day philosophers and critics about judgments of taste.

Rationales and functions of disliked music: An in-depth interview study.

Background and objectivesWith a few exceptions, musical taste has been researched via likes or preferences of certain types of music. The present study focuses on disliked music and takes a broad approach to cover explanatory strategies related to personal dislikes.MethodsIn-depth interviews were conducted with 21 participants in five age groups. Interviewees were asked to prepare a list of their disliked music, and for each item they were asked about the reasons for the dislike. To ensure that the complexity and range of the participants’ dislikes and rationales were captured in the analysis, a structuring content analysis as a mostly theory-driven approach was combined with inductive category creation out of the interview data.ResultsThe most often mentioned type of dislike was musical style, followed by artist and genre. Five main reference points were identified for describing musical dislikes: the music itself, lyrics, performance, artist, and the people who listen to it. The identified rationales for disliked music were assigned to three larger categories: object-related reasons, such as music-compositional aspects, aesthetic dichotomies or lyrics; subject-related reasons, such as emotional or bodily effects, or discrepancies with the self-image; social reasons, which refer to one’s social environment and the taste judgments common to it (in-group) or to other groups of which the participants do not feel part of (out-group). Apart from the rationales for disliked music, the participants described specific reactions when they are confronted with their disliked music, such as emotional, physical, and social reactions.ConclusionsWhile musical dislikes have already been shown to fulfill important social functions, the current study extends the rationales to music-related and self-related reasons. Musical dislikes fulfill similar functions to liked music, such as preservation of a good mood, identity expression and construction, strengthening of group cohesion as well as social distinction.

‘Irrational Nuances’: Interpreting Stockhausen'sKlavierstück I

AbstractThe performance practice of European serial music has long been misunderstood. This article uses Stockhausen'sKlavierstück I(1952–3) as a lens through which to view the realities of this practice, drawing on close contextual analysis of the affordances of the score and the now significant corpus of recordings. These findings are used to extend M. J. Grant's view of serial aesthetics and to provide a practical basis for what she calls ‘serial listening’. Three principal styles of performance are identified and attendant modes of listening suggested, relating to the non-thematic principles and hermeneutic contexts of serial music, which include the embodied response of the performer to defamiliarized musical material and the nascent dialectic of instrumental and electronic composition. This investigation – informing serious judgements of value and taste – has broader implications for the development of Stockhausen's notation and temporal theory in the 1950s and for the performance practice of new music.

Disinhibition of the public through happening- performance (IV.)

The paper tackles the impact of the stage performance upon the public, the algorithm through which the theatrical event entered in the captivity of mass manipulation and the development of the dramatic concepts, aiming to decode the implied power relationship between scene and audience, thanks to the evolution of philosophical thinking from genuine skepticism to modern rationalism, from the judgment of taste to critical judgment and social activism. Further, in the psychological key, the consequences of the dual division of the show space, the sociological markers in theatre architecture, and the pattern of the Wagnerian scenic space were studied, allowing insights into the history of mentalities and into the pattern of art reception.

The formation of a taste judgement: how Benjamin R. Haydon came to value, observe and evaluate the Elgin Marbles

AbstractWhat are taste judgements? Do they have a claim to knowledge? This article addresses these questions by revisiting the long-eighteenth-century debate on taste judgements and examining the case of a judgement that was unusually explicit about its formation. The painter Benjamin R. Haydon (1786–1846) encountered the Parthenon sculptures in 1808, studied them for several years, and recorded how he came to pronounce them ‘the finest things on earth’. I describe the maturation of Haydon's judgement, presenting the process as revealing of the nature of taste judgements. I argue that taste judgements are a distinct form of knowledge that involve expertise in three experiential aspects: valuation (prizing an artwork), observation (discriminating referential features in an artwork), and evaluation (assigning a specific worth to an artwork). From a methodological standpoint, Haydon's judgement draws attention to individual resources for the stabilization of knowledge and invites reflection on the status of the case as a unit of analysis in the history of science.

Why do we need the particle “not”: evolution of semantic structures and propositional attitudes

The article investigates the problem of the universally significant meaning of communi­cative messages. This framework problem implies answering more specific questions — is there a reality (correlative to the meaning of judgments) that would guarantee the universali­ty of the meanings of linguistic expressions; is there a reality behind moralizing or judgments of taste that ensures agreement on value judgments if they become the content of communica­tion. What provides the typical identity of mental states (thoughts, perceptions, representa­tions, sensations) in different individuals, when these states are thematized in communica­tion? Is there a typical correlation behind them in reality, which ensures the identity of men­tal states? The article posits that propositional attitudes act as “carriers” or frameworks of typical communicative environments, indirect contexts in which propositional content are localized as the main — intralingual — evolutionary mechanism that stabilizes key commu­nicative meanings. Indirect contexts produced in the language or the operators “I know that...”, “I hope that...”, “I remember that...”, “I want that…”, “I imagine that...” protect sentences from negation and make it possible to reproduce universally significant meanings.

KANTOVA ESTETIKA KAO KRITIKA LEPOG

The paper discusses Kant’s understanding of aesthetics. The analysis relies on the place of the Critique of Judgment in his system of critical thinking. In such a system of critical thinking, there is no science of beauty, but only criticism of beauty. This critique of beauty in Kant’s aesthetics is realized as an analysis of beauty. The analysis of beauty is carried out as an analysis of the judgments of taste, guided by moments analogous to the logical functions of the judgments of understanding from the Critique of Pure Reason. In the end, it is concluded that Kant’s notion of criticism is appropriate for the notion of fine art.

A crítica de rock repaginada e despaginada. Da autoridade no jornalismo cultural à plataformização e performance de gosto

On this paper we discuss the current potentialities of rock n' roll critics, highlighting its production, reception and circulation scenarios by the platformization perspective and understanding the current criticism as a taste performance. We refuse the idea that the criticism itself became obsolete, as it has been claimed by some, and argue that, in fact, there is a repositioning process that led into the current rock critics escaping the big newspapers and magazines and having no requirement of a journalism academic degree. We present a short chronology of arts journalism, focused on culture, and rock criticism, as part of the journalism based on opinion, where the rock journalists used to claim their authorities because of their repertory and authenticity. Our main purpose here is to demonstrate that not just these values are no longer determinant for one to publish his own critics, but criticism is now less of a judgment of taste than it is a horizontally and immediatism mediation. It is not a sentence defining made by one if something is good or bad -or must be bought or not -but a sharing of taste to and by many.

Emotions and the content of aesthetic experience

In this article, I will draw a parallel between the phenomenology of aesthetic experience and the concept of affective intentionality. One of my aims is to show that ?component? approach is not appropriate both for aesthetic and emotional experience. I will lay emphasis on issues of the shaping of aesthetic content and its non-conceptuality. I will respond to the first problem by introducing the elements of affective intentionality account, particularly by referring to Goldie?s argument concerning the intentionality of feelings. Furthermore, I will clarify that attitude/content distinction cannot stand for aesthetic and emotional experience. The second issue will be addressed by referring to one of interpretations regarding Kant?s account of the judgment of taste. Even if the drawn parallels don?t provide a clear argument for equating aesthetic and emotional experience, the more modest aim of the paper is to point out the lessons of affective intentionality account, which could be helpful in understanding the aesthetic experience.

Concept-less Schemata: The Reciprocity of Imagination and Understanding in Kant’s Aesthetics

AbstractIn this paper, I discuss Kant’s concept-less schematism (KU, 5: 287) in the thirdCritique1and make three claims: 1) concept-less schematism is entirely consistent with the schematism in the firstCritique; 2) concept-less schematism is schematism with noempiricalconcept as an outcome; and 3) in accordance with 1) and 2), the imagination is free to synthesize the given manifold and leads to judgements of taste without this meaning either that the categories play no role at all or that these judgements are full-fledged cognitive determining judgements. While most commentators read the freedom of the imagination as its independence from the understanding, I argue that the freedom of the imagination is based on a non-determining employment of the pure concepts of the understanding. The freedom of the aesthetic imagination consists in the temporal schematization of the categories without any complementary determination of the empirical concept.

The way it makes us feel: The subsumption model of the Kantian judgement of taste

AbstractIn his theory of beauty, Kant introduces the free and harmonious play of the faculties as a kind of judging. This judging should precede the pleasure in the beautiful. But being the determining ground of the judgement of taste, the pleasure should precede the judgement. Regarding this problem, two opposing models have been proposed: Paul Guyer's ‘two‐acts model’ and Hannah Ginsborg's ‘one‐act model’. I propose a third model that, I argue, resolves the difficulty and does not fall prey to the problems of the other two resolutions: the ‘subsumption model’, according to which the pleasure is followed by a subsumption under the concept ‘beautiful’.

Considering taste after gamification: collective selection, cultural intermediation, and casual gaming

ABSTRACT In the past few years, Covet Fashion and Redecor have emerged as popular options in the invest/express genre of casual games, where players create outfits and decorate rooms, respectively, to be judged by other users. This paper considers how such gamification—by turning taste considerations into a literal game—can impact judgments in everyday life. Drawing on symbolic interactionism, this paper positions taste judgments as being constructed through communication and social position. As such, by altering who players are in communication with, these games have the potential to rework learned taste and aesthetic judgments, thereby modifying sociocultural considerations like cultural capital. Taking a phenomenological approach, this paper finds these games frequently support the negative aspects of contemporary consumer culture, but have the potential to be more empowering.

Will “moving” food tastes better? Effect of dynamic food image in print advertising on food taste perception

AbstractThis study investigated whether the dynamic (vs. still) food image in the print food advertisement affected consumers' judgment of food taste. Through the experimental studies, we found that dynamic (vs. still) food image can improve consumers' perception of food taste (study 1). The influence of dynamic food image on the perception of food taste is related to consumers' affective fluency in information processing (study 2). For consumers with health consumption goal, the dynamic (vs. still) food image can significantly improve the perception of food taste; for consumers with hedonic consumption goal, the difference of taste perception caused by dynamic (vs. still) food image is not significant (study 3). The conclusions can be used to nudge food selection and consumption.Practical ApplicationsFindings of current research reveal that manufacturers and marketers of food products may include dynamic food images into their print advertisements to increase perceived tastiness. More broadly, marketers should fully take the target consumers to whom the foods will be sold into account, as the expected sensory pleasure of consumers with different consumption goals is different. On the basis of our findings, food products aimed at customers focusing on health potential should apply a dynamic food image that generally leads to affective fluency and implies tastiness. In addition, food marketers need to consider the affective experience of consumers during their information processing. Facing the same food, the advertisements making consumers feel pleasant, enjoyable, and interesting will improve consumers' taste perception.

Live and let live? Morality in symbolic boundaries across different cultural areas

This article examines morality in taste judgements. In response to Bourdieu’s analysis of France in the 1960s, sociologists note that repertoires of moral evaluation vary across contexts. They typically highlight national variations, like Nordic egalitarianism weakens cultural boundaries, and temporal variations, with transformed values having made cultural hierarchies less defensible. The article investigates a neglected type of moral variation: contrasting cultural areas. In a study of class and culture in Stavanger, Norway, the authors combined oral interviews on taste with photo elicitation in the visual arts, literature and housing/architecture. While interviewees were often careful not to appear disdainful of other people’s tastes, and expressed ambivalence about cultural boundaries, their thoughts on housing/architecture diverged. Here, people did not hesitate to criticise other people’s taste, even to the point of ridiculing their houses. The authors discuss the implications for Lamont’s symbolic boundary perspective, which is predicated on a separation of three types of symbolic boundaries (cultural, socioeconomic, moral). Morality can both weaken and reinforce cultural boundaries, depending on the areas under investigation. In conclusion, the authors suggest ways cultural sociology may conceive of different moral modalities.

To keep or not to keep? Sorting out leftovers from a refrigerator

Most literature on food waste shows that food that ends up in the garbage can is often no longer considered as enjoyable, or even as edible. In this paper, we decided to focus on assessments of whether leftover food is still considered as worth eating, to provide a better understanding of the production of domestic food waste. We constructed a pluridisciplinary approach, combining sensory analysis and sociology. The first part was conducted in a test kitchen under controlled conditions: 50 participants had to sort out and decide to keep or to throw away different types of refrigerated leftovers. The second part used in-depth interviews with half of these participants (N = 25) to explore their food habits and perceptions and handling of leftovers at home. The first section of the paper presents the theoretical framework of the study, which is grounded in practice theory. Then we detail the methodology and the results. We show that sorting out leftovers is a process mobilizing embodied knowledge and resulting from domestic practices implemented to avoid waste, such as storing or reusing leftovers. In the discussion, we analyze the sorting of refrigerated food products as a compound practice, situated at the intersection of provisioning, cooking, meal organization, and judgment of taste (Warde, 2013). Using this theoretical framework enables us to understand the heterogeneity observed in the outcome of the sorting process as the result of its weak degree of regulation. The sorting out practice is thus consistent with different modes of engagement such as food waste prevention, health maintenance, or providing enjoyable family meals. We conclude by providing suggestions of policy recommendations regarding domestic refrigeration, food storage, and assessment practices.

The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank Centre

Since the 1960s, post-war modernist heritage has been largely criticised and victimised by the public opinion because of its material failures and elitist social projects. Despite these critiques, post-war modernist heritage is being reassessed, revalued and in some places successfully rehabilitated. There is a growing recognition that most of the critiques have often been the result of subjective and biased value and taste judgments or incomplete assessments that neither considered the urban design nor the users’ experiences. This paper aims to contribute to these reassessments of post-war modernist urban heritage legacies. To do so, it places the user’s social experiences and uses, and the urban design at the centre of the analysis, by using a combination of ethnographic methods and urban design analysis and focusing on the public spaces of Southbank Centre in London, the UK’s largest and most iconic and contested post-war modernist ensemble with a long history of conservation and regeneration projects. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the importance of including the users’ social experiences and uses in the conservation and regeneration agendas if we want to achieve more objective and inclusive assessments.