Abstract

A series of recent experimental studies have cast doubt on the existence of a traditional tension that aestheticians have noted in our aesthetic judgments and practices, viz. the paradox of taste. The existence of the paradox has been acknowledged since Hume and Kant, though not enough has been done to analyse it in depth. In this paper we remedy this by proposing six possible conceptualizations of the paradox of taste. Drawing on our analysis of the paradox, we argue that the experimental results in question are not a real challenge to its existence. By contrast, they provide empirical evidence in its support.