Questions of taste : Diderot and the stratification of aesthetic judgement

«The further one goes to find a definition of “good taste”, the wider off the mark one gets; taste is nothing but the ability to judge what pleases or does not please the majority». This incisive definition by Rousseau, which could find many supporters, is as true as any persuasive definition, yet does not explain much. It is nonetheless incontestable that in eighteenth century France the term “taste” assumed extremely diverse and at times divergent meanings and connotations. These meanings and connotations met or clashed in Diderot’s method of thinking.