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Philosophical analysis differentiates between bad taste and true tastelessness, suggesting complexity in aesthetic judgement.
It is hard to be tasteless. It is not so hard to have bad taste, I grant, but that is another matter. To have bad taste, one simply must consistently make choices which offend those with good taste — an ability which is relatively commonplace. For some, bad taste seems to appear naturally, as a birthright; others must learn to cultivate it. But no matter how acquired, or how skilfully employed, bad taste is not tastelessness.
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William Brooks (1982) studied this question.
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