Your complimentary articles

You’ve read all of your complimentary articles for this month. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy articles on this site, please

If you are a subscriber please sign in to your account.

To buy or renew a subscription please visit Subscriptions.

If you are a print subscriber you can contact us to create an online account.

Articles

Are ‘Matters of Taste’ Matters of Taste?

Michael Langford argues for a degree of objectivity in aesthetics.

In this article I am concerned with matters of taste quite literally – in the context of wine-tasting. I have a particular interest in this topic because, in addition to having been a teacher of philosophy, from 1970 until 1996 I was professionally involved with the wine trade as wine consultant to the Liquor Control Board of the Canadian Province of Newfoundland.

Many people use the term ‘matter of taste’ to refer to matters thought to be purely subjective, implying that no judgments concerning them have objective authority. Horace’s aphorism De gustibus non est disputandum (‘matters of taste are not properly disputable’) is sometimes quoted in support of this view. In other words, matters of taste are personal preferences only, not matters of right or wrong, or otherwise responsive to reasonable dispute.

…