The objectivity of criticism of the arts

pp. 265-281

in: I. C. Jarvie, Thinking about society, Berlin, Springer, 1986

Abstract

This paper is an attack on the widely held view that judgments on works of art are irremediably subjective. Subjectivism, as it will be called, has its attractive and its less attractive sides. It is simple; it plausibly explains why there is so much disagreement in criticism of the arts; and, while arguments for and against it can be deployed, none of the arguments against is conclusive. This latter quality may be thought by some to be unattractive, and even a reason for rejecting subjectivism.¹