Accounting for Taste: David Hume on Authority in Aesthetic Judgment | Noah Chafets | First Friday

Many of us think that no one has the authority to resolve disagreements of taste. But at least as many of us put stock in things that would be just about meaningless if this were true – think of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Academy Awards, top 10 lists, canons of great books. This lecture will consider David Hume’s attempts to adjudicate between our conflicting intuitions about art, beauty and aesthetic judgment. It will also present his thoughts about how to develop good taste, and his argument that doing so is supremely valuable. Chapters 00:00:01 Welcome, logistics, and Basic Program context 00:04:09 Framing Hume and the problem of taste 00:07:38 Aesthetic judgment and questions of authority 00:12:15 Cilantro, disagreement, and skeptical worries 00:18:43 Hume’s “true judges” and distortions of taste 00:25:20 Introducing the 10 requirements that make an expert critic 00:33:43 The importance of repeated encounters with the criticized work 00:41:26 Noah's reflections on Hume's account 00:47:55 How tastes develop through experience 00:52:50 Canons, tradition, and why some works endure 00:57:29 Q&A: beauty, truth, and authority 01:07:55 Q&A: non-Western art and examples beyond Hume 01:14:06 Closing thanks and end of session About the Speaker Noah Chafets is currently the Cyril O. Houle Chair of the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. He holds a BA in philosophy from Vassar College and a PhD from the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought. His dissertation is about desire and motivation in Plato’s Gorgias and Republic. He has taught high school students in Boston and Shanghai, and taught undergraduates at the University, primarily in core sequences in the Humanities and Social Sciences, for a decade before joining the Basic Program. His interests are well represented by the texts in the Basic Program’s curriculum, but also extend to contemporary ethics and practical philosophy, aesthetics and film. About the Basic Program The First Friday Lecture series is presented by the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. The Basic Program is a four-year certificate program for intellectually curious learners who want to read and discuss the Great Books in a serious, welcoming community. Through close reading and weekly conversation, students engage works of literature, philosophy, history, and social thought by authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Dante, Shakespeare, de Tocqueville, Woolf, and Morrison—guided by outstanding instructors, with no prerequisites, tests, papers, or grades. Offered online and in person, the program invites adults from all backgrounds to deepen their thinking, broaden their perspective, and join a lifelong community of readers. Learn more at https://graham.uchicago.edu/program/basic-program-of-liberal-education/ About Graham The Graham School is a one-of-a-kind intellectual community that brings the best of the University of Chicago to lifelong learners who are seeking discovery and discernment. Through an array of distinctive programs and courses in the Great Books, the liberal arts, and advanced leadership, we welcome learners who seek to deepen their understanding of the world and lead examined lives of purpose. Learn more at https://graham.uchicago.edu