culture blurb...debating beauty

from InsideCatholic:

"Having taught both ethics and aesthetics many times in the course of my career, I've come to the conclusion that the latter is a much more demanding task. In both cases, the enemy to be fought is the deeply rooted relativism and subjectivism prevalent in our society. But in ethics, there's always a possibility that students will agree that in some cases, the evil nature of certain acts cannot be contested."

 

"But when it comes to aesthetic appreciation of individual works of art -- much as thinkers might agree on some basic principles -- the disagreements are baffling. Two philosophers might agree that there's a hierarchy among beautiful objects but disagree violently as to which one is actually more beautiful."