My post from 2006 on the subject has over 12,000 hits and is the second-most visited on the site. It is not my wisdom about the subject, but that others are looking to learn about the topic. I thought of it during the Ann Althouse discussion of Leonard Cohen berating critics who didn't like Bob Dylan because of his singing voice. He trashed people who liked sweet singing, basically.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe directed that Three Questions be asked about any work of art. They must be answered in order.
1. What was the artist trying to do?
2. How well did he do it?
3. Was it worth the doing?
The point is, until one answers the first two questions, one should not be attempting to answer the third. It is a check on over-hasty judgement, and provides a structure to see things with new eyes.
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