Hume, “The Standard Of Taste”

PHIL 150, Introduction to philosophy, Fall 2026

1 Outline

  1. The problem ¶¶1–6
  2. The skeptical position and reply ¶¶7–8
  3. The rules of art ¶¶9–12
  4. Five qualities of a good critic ¶¶13–23
  5. True critics ¶¶24–27
  6. Variation ¶¶28–31
  7. Morality and religion in art ¶¶32–36

2 Our primary focus

  • ¶¶6–8: The problem
  • ¶¶15–16: The key
  • ¶23: The standard
  • ¶¶24–25: The circularity worry

3 Our secondary focus

  • ¶¶9–11: rules of art
  • ¶¶28–30: blameless variation

4 ¶¶6–8

Hume describes a problem here. What is it?

5 ¶¶15–16

What’s the point of the Sancho story?

6 ¶23

What is Hume’s standard of taste?

7 ¶¶16 and 23: A tension

Scholars see a tension between the views of ¶¶16 and 23. What is it? Is there no resolution of it?

8 ¶24–25

Where are the true critics? Hume thinks it is a “question of fact.” Is his answer satisfactory?

(See further ¶26.)