"David Hume - Of the Standard of Taste" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hume David)

Though the hogshead had never been emptied, the taste of the
one was still equally delicate, and that of the other equally
dull and languid: But it would have been more difficult to
have proved the superiority of the former, to the conviction
of every by-stander. In like manner, though the beauties of
writing had never been methodized, or reduced to general
principles; though no excellent models had ever been
acknowledged; the different degrees of taste would still have
subsisted, and the judgment of one man had been preferable to
that of another; but it would not have been so easy to silence
the bad critic, who might always insist upon his particular
sentiment, and refuse to submit to his antagonist. But wen we
show him an avowed principle of art; when we illustrate this
principle by examples, whose operation, from his own
particular taste, he acknowledges to be conformable to the
principle; when we prove, that the same principle may be
applied to the present case, where he did not perceive or feel
its influence: He must conclude, upon the whole, that the
fault lies in himself, and that he wants the delicacy, which
is requisite to make him sensible of every beauty and every
blemish, in any composition or discourse.

It is acknowledged to be the perfection of every sense or
faculty, to perceive with exactness its most minute objects,
and allow nothing to escape its notice and observation. The
smaller the objects are, which become sensible to the eye, the
finer is that organ, and the more elaborate its make and
composition. A good palate is not tried by strong flavours;
but by a mixture of small ingredients, where we are still
sensible of each part, notwithstanding its minuteness and its
confusion with the rest. In like manner, a quick and acute
perception of beauty and deformity must be the perfection of
our mental taste; nor can a man be satisfied with himself
while he suspects, that any excellence or blemish in a
discourse has passed him unobserved. In this case, the
perfection of the man, and the perfection of the sense or
feeling, are found to be united. A very delicate palate, on
many occasions, may be a great inconvenience both to a man
himself and to his friends: But a delicate taste of wit or
beauty must always be a desirable quality; because it is the
source of all the finest and most innocent enjoyments, of
which human nature is susceptible. In this decision the
sentiments of all mankind are agreed. Wherever you can
ascertain a delicacy of taste, it is sure to meet with
approbation; and the best way of ascertaining it is to appeal
to those models and principles, which have been established by
the uniform consent and experience of nations and ages.

But though there be naturally a wide difference in point of
delicacy between one person and another, nothing tends further