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On enlightenment and taste: Outline of a research topic

Bošković Dušan (Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju, Beograd)

The author puts forward a set of assumptions and possible context for examining the connection between the concepts of enlightenment and taste. Kant’s definition of enlightenment is accepted, with special emphasis on the sphere of religion. Applying this criterion, we may discern a powerful and influential religious current stemming from strictly speaking Church circles that denies the systematic and historical significance of the opus of Dositej Obradović, who in his time was a protagonist of the European enlightenment. Such a revaluation has been accepted by the greater portion of the younger generation, which relies predominantly on the St. Sava Myth. With a change of worldview, undoubtedly, tastes change as well. The next section of the paper discusses the approach to taste of the Scottish philosopher David Hume representative of dispositional aesthetic. Finally it is argued that music as one of the arts, might be exemplary for appraising the condition of enlightenment in a society.

Keywords: enlightenment, religion, taste, music, Kant, Hume