🎨 Edmund Burke's On Taste - is good taste learned, inherited, or enforced?

🎨 We're getting together to talk about Edmund Burke's On Taste.

It can be hard to separate liking something from wanting to be the kind of person who likes it. A painting, song or outfit can look different once someone we respect approves of it, but learning more can also help us notice something we genuinely missed. Those possibilities are easy to confuse. How do we tell the difference between developing our judgment and borrowing someone else's, especially when we want to belong in the same circles?

The plan
You don't need a background in the topic, and you're welcome to listen. Leave room for other people to speak.
Reading: a concise extract from On Taste, not the full collected works — https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15043

• Is good taste learned, inherited, or enforced?
• When does disagreement about art reveal different experiences rather than better or worse judgment?
• How much should a critic need to explain before asking us to trust their verdict?

When and where
🗓️ Date: Sunday, December 6, 2026
🕒 Time: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM, Vancouver local time
📍 Location: UBC Learning Exchange, 612 Main St, Vancouver, BC V6A 2V3
We will meet at the main entrance.
Arrive 10 minutes before the start; doors close 10 minutes after the start.
Cap: 40