No, William, I'm not presenting myself as the king of good taste -- I'm just an idealist who is proposing the existence of such a kingdom.
Does it really exist? If we're going to be skeptics like Cheerskep--- no --- it doesn't really exist -- and neither does anything else. But want it to exist because it's a notion that helps us improve ourselves and our environment -- and should be the foundation on which is built an education in the imaginative arts: literature, music, painting etc. Do I have a problem with Geoff preferring Paganini to Beethoven ? Yes - to the extent that I would not expect to improve my taste in music by talking about those composers with him. But Geoff wouldn't expect that either, would he? Like many people regarding the imaginative arts, he likes what he likes regardless of the opinions of others, authoritative or otherwise --which I think is far, far preferable to those who try to model their taste after established norms -- and stand up to clap at concerts of classical music because that is what they are supposed to do. I admire Geoff for his self direction - as I admire Cheerskep for his stubborn refusal to recognize any special value in the plays of Samuel Beckett -- which I'm sure makes him appear somewhat backward to his sophisticated theater friends. BTW -- thankyou, Cheerskep for copy editing my last post -- I neglected to insert the word "kind of" -- so the statement should read: "I don't think an aesthetic *kind of* experience is different from any other kind except to the degree that we enjoy and get involved with it." In every kind of experience, aesthetic or otherwise -- sometimes we just get something wrong --misinterpreting a gesture, a word, a movement, whatever. I'm not saying that there is only one right way to experience something -- but only that many mistakes can be made. _____________________________________________________________________ Get Freebies & Coupons -- Free of Hassle at FreeInternet.com! Visit http://offers.netzero.net/TGL1211/?u=http://www.freeinternet.com
