Notes on "Of the Standard of Taste"

(Originally Written December 27, 2007 in the Journal)

God give me the strength of mind to pursue this topic to its fullest. Grant me the wisdom needed in discovering your Truth. God give me the desire to seek you in every topic.

"Of the Standard of Taste"
By David Hume
(Continued)

There is a difference between sentiment and judgment.

All sentiments are right and true. Only one judgment is right and true.

A sentiment does not represent what exists in the object, only the feelings aroused in the sentiment holder.

Beauty does not exist in the object. "It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty".

To search out the real beauty is a fruitless activity. It is like seeking out the real sweet or the real bitter.

Common sense demands that there is no true beauty or no right taste; but, common sense also demands that people who prefer a finger painting to the Mona Lisa have wrong sentiments.

When something is pleasing but does not conform to the accepted rules of the medium it is pleasing in spite of its non-conformity, not because of it.

Homer pleased Athens and Rome. He pleased Paris and London in Hume's day. He pleases New York and D.C. today. Authority and prejudice may give temporary vogue to lesser, current authors, but they will diminish in time. Only great works are timeless.

[Thus, is beauty gauged on time?]

While there can be a variance of taste and sentiment, there must also be certain general principles of approbation or blame.

Beauty and deformity are not qualities in objects, but belong entirely to sentiment. However, it must be admitted that certain qualities in objects are predisposed to arousing these sentiments.

The delicacy of taste is the ability to discern all of these qualities. Those who posses this trait are more qualified to have their taste made into a standard of taste. (i.e. Sancho's taste for wine in Don Quixote).

Practice is how one acquires this delicacy of taste.

"Every work of art has also a certain end or purpose for which it is to be deemed more or less perfect, as it is more or less fitted to attain this end".

The principles of taste in men are universal and nearly or entirely the same in all men. But, few are qualified to give judgment on any work of art or to establish their own sentiment as the standard of beauty.

Key points:

1. Beauty exists in the mind of the observer, not in the object itself.

2. To seek Absolute Beauty is fruitless.

3. Taste is subjective because it is based on our sentiments. Only those who have been finely tuned to observing every part of what is beautiful are qualified to give sound judgment on works of art.

4. Those things that possess universal qualities that arouse the sentiment of beauty are timeless and culturally universal. Things that are merely agreeable in a given time and place are not necessarily beautiful.

5. "Every work of art has also a certain end or purpose". Art has a function. It relays a message. It can be judged as more perfect or less perfect on how effective it is in achieving its designed end.
              
1. Is this true?
2. If it is, who gives it the purpose?

Aesthetics - What is Beauty? What is Art?

(Originally Written on December 25, 2007 in the Journal)

Aesthetics - What is Beauty? What is Art?

Part I: What is Beauty?

Questions for consideration:

1) Is beauty subjective, objective, or a combination thereof?
2) What is taste?

Part II: Explore different mediums, define art (as a language?)

Research Topics

Immanuel Kant
David Hume
Ludwig Wittgenstein
John Dewey
Leo Tolstoy
Plato
Nelson Goodman
Arthur C. Danto
Martin Heidegger
Jerrold Levinson
Terry Eagleton
Michel Foucault
Friedrich Nietzsche
Aristotle
Edmund Burke
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Topics: mediums, perception of art, why create?

"Of the Standard of Taste"
By: David Hume

It is useful for us to seek a "standard of taste".

A standard of taste is "a rule by which the various sentiments of men may be reconciled".

Feeling unfulfilled

(Originally written October 5, 2007 originally in Notebook 19)

I am so incredibly bored with life. I am tired of being broke. I am tired of mind-numbing employment. I am tired of Bertucci politics. It is truly absurd. I need something. I feel so unfulfilled.

The Linehan Company

AHclassys.com?

Alternative classified, similar to eBay, but a simple flat fee to post as long as you like.

I'm stumped. I have nothing, absolutely nothing left.

Looking for a BIG IDEA

(Originally written August 28, 2007 in Notebook 19)

I am searching far and wide for that elusive BIG IDEA. What can I do to find it? Or should I settle on a little idea and then another and then another and then another and so on until I have a web of interconnected little ideas that engrosses more area than any singular big idea? Which is better, the proverbial bigness or a network of smallness?

Business idea

- Look into the vending machine industry, especially those candy machines. Is this at all worth it?
- Look into buying and selling on craigslist/eBay
- Business Plan writing
- Party/Event Planning
- Memory Books/Scrapbooks, and things: help the busy world remember and cherish their vacation, wedding, anniversary and party memories

Beyond Good & Evil 257-259

(Originally written August 27, 2007 in Notebook 18)

Beyond Good & Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche

Part 9 - What is Noble

257

Every enhancement of the type "man" has been made though an aristocratic society, a society which believes in differences in value of men, and one which needs slavery in some sense.

Truth is hard; one must not ascribe to the humanitarian accounts of the origin of the aristocracy.

The noble class was always the barbarian class. The barbarians conquered the weak.

The barbarians were stronger physically and stronger in soul. They are more whole human beings and therefore, more whole beasts.

The good aristocracy sees itself as the justification and the meaning, not the function of the monarch or commonwealth.

The good aristocracy uses the lower classes as instruments, anything else is a corruption.

Society must exist, not for society's sake, but so that the strong can rise to new heights on the backs of society.

259

When a principle of mutual agreement of will is levied between two men of the same stature it is good manners. But, when it is extended to society as a whole it is a will to the denial of life and a disintegrating and decaying force.

Life is essentially the strong overpowering the weak. "Life is simply the will to power" (Nietzsche, 393).

Exploitation of the weak is essential for any living and thriving society. It is not a corruption.

Financial Notes 3

(Originally written August 27, 2007 in Notebook 19)

Savings/Investment Plan (1 month)

Today: Open Money Market Account with $25

Friday 8/31/07 Purchase 1st Gov Bond (25)
Thursday 9/6/07 Deposit 25-75 f/ D's paycheck into MM
Friday 9/7 Purchase second Gov Bond (25)
Friday 9/14 Purchase 3rd Gov Bond (25)
Thursday 9/20/07 Deposit 25-75 f/ D's paycheck into MM
Friday 9/21 purchase 4th Gov bond (25)
Friday 9/28 Purchase 5th Gov Bond (25)

Never mind, that plan stinks.

Financial Savings/Investment Plan

Phase I - Savings Accounts and Debt Payoff and Bonds

1) BOA Savings account

- Chris invests all of his savings in here until it reaches $3,000. This is our fall back money
- D puts a small amount each paycheck into here: $10-15 or so, depending on bill needs.

2) Money Market Account

- D invests her paycheck savings here
- Savings from photography goes in here
- The purpose of this account is to achieve high interest for our savings and is usable for mid-range, long-range goals
- There is no maximum on this account because it will eventually be a place for us to get our down payment on the house

3) CC #1

- Pay this off as quickly as possible from D's paycheck. $200-300/check

4) CC#2

- $212 and change is automatically withdrawn from the account months until December and it is paid off

5) CC #3

- Chris pays this off with tips

6) J.A. Cambece

- Pay $25/mo from account until paid off, pay more if possible

7) Bonds

a) EE bonds and purchase $50 EE bonds from BOA account for $25 whenever that account reaches the next highest $100 mark (example purchase it wen it hits $400, $500, $600... $2900, $3000)

b) Since this money comes from the BOA account it is paid out of Chris' tips

c) Once the BOA account hits $3,000 purchase EE Bonds ($50) as often as possible until we reach $2500 in EE Bonds

End of Phase I - Target date mid-2008

Net Worth: $7,000-$8500

Phase II Bonds & DRIP

Bonds

- continue purchasing EE Bonds until we reach $5,000 in par value or 100 $50.00 EE Bonds.

DRIPS

- Purhcase Kellogg's and invest $25-$1000 and then $25.month and let the dividends accrue.

End of Phase II Target Date: December 2008

Net Worth: $11,000-$15,000

Phase III Bonds, DRIPs, IRA

a) Bonds continue with bond investing until we hit $7500-$10000
b) continue with Kellogg's and add one or two more drips
c) Open up IRA
d) Continue to invest in MM account

Beyond Good & Evil 248-256

(Originally written August 26, 2007 in Notebook 18)

Beyond Good & Evil
Friedrich Nietzsche

248

There are two types of genius:
1) That which wants to beget (man)
2) That which wants to give birth (woman)

These two types of peoples and genius search for one another looking to combine (as with man and woman) but, as with man and woman they often misunderstand one another.

249

"What is best in us we do not know - we cannot know" (Nietzsche 375).

250

Europe owes many things to the Jews, both good and bad.

Above all Europe owes the grand style of morality, infinite demands, infinite meanings; these we owe to the Jews and it is both the best and worst they have offered.

Nietzsche seeks to initiate a revolution process. He uses the Jews as a model on how to do so while disagreeing with the values they have set.

251

The Jews are the strongest and purest race in all of Europe. They prevail in hardships and change when they wish to.

The Jews have a faith that stands unembarrassed in the presence of modern ideas.

The Jews, if they wished, could take over all of Europe.

But rather than conquering the Jews wish only to be admitted and assimilated into a nation's culture.

The task which Nietzsche is serious about is the cultivation of a new caste that will rule Europe.

252

The English are unphilosophic as a race. Bacon is an attack on the philosophical spirit. Hobbes, Hume and Locke have amounted to a debasement of the value of philosophy.

His characteristic of an unphilosophical race is to cling to Christianity. The English need Christianity for its discipline, its power to moralize and its power to humanize.

The English person lacks a musical sense. The movements of their bodies and souls completely lack rhythm and dance.

253

There are truths that are recognized by mediocre minds at best.

The spirit of respectable, albeit mediocre, English minds like Darwin, John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer is becoming fashionable in middle Europe.

These mediocre minds are necessary at times. For they are knowledgeable, but the higher man is a man who "can"

The disparity between 'know' and 'can' is great. In fact, a high mind must be able to do something starkly new and innovative. Their focus on new and can may demand that he not know as much.

254

The French are a semi-successful blending of the North and South cultures.

255

We must rise above the good and evil, and as the sun sets on the moral world it becomes hospitable and profound enough for fugitives.

256

"Europe wants to become one" (Nietzsche, 386).