I want an unquestionable – the word that comes to mind is scientific, or mathematic – way of showing that Beethoven is superior to Kanye West, that Shakespeare is superior to Stephen King: is there any theory of aesthetics that comes close to this?
What is the most persuasive and rigorous criteria to evaluate the value of a work of art that you have ever encountered (apart from survival through time)?
It bothers me to strive to achieve great results in an artistic career when every single looser can say that Star Wars is one of the greatest works of art of all time, or that Jay Z is a genius, or that Tupac is a great poet (or even a respectable poet, for the matter), and other things like that. It is a great offense to me the typical consensus that everyone has an opinion and that all opinions should be respected and that art appreciation is subjective and that there is no way to say that Beethoven is objectively superior to The Beatles.
I feel that an objective and unquestionable way to destroy the pride that everyone has to say: “I like what I like and you need to respect me” and “tastes are tastes, opinions are opinions, and everyone has their own” would be one of the greatest achievements of human thinking.
It would be glorious to show to some of Hollywood’s self-fellating industry people, to ghetto kids, to rap and hip-hop fans just how inferior their “artistic” heroes are. Unfortunately I don’t think that it will ever be possible to achieve the mental artifact to actually do it.