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Full Idea
What is food to one may be literally poison to others.
Gist of Idea
One man's meat is another man's poison
Source
Lucretius (On the Nature of the Universe [c.60 BCE], IV.638)
Book Ref
Lucretius: 'On the Nature of the Universe', ed/tr. Latham,Ronald [Penguin 1951], p.150
A Reaction
This seems to be the origin of the well-known saying. This is not relativism of perception, but a relativism of how individuals actually respond to the world. It sums up the position with, say, the operas of Wagner.
| 2824 | The collective judgement of many people on art is better than that of an individual [Aristotle] |
| 6611 | One man's meat is another man's poison [Lucretius] |
| 5643 | Aesthetic values are not objectively valid, but we must treat them as if they are [Kant, by Scruton] |
| 20410 | The judgement of beauty is not cognitive, but relates, via imagination, to pleasurable feelings [Kant] |
| 21927 | Schopenhauer emphasises Ideas in art, unlike most romantics [Schopenhauer, by Lewis,PB] |
| 12161 | We can be objective about conventions, but love of art is needed to understand its traditions [Scruton] |
| 8111 | Aesthetic objectivists must explain pleasure being essential, but not in the object [Gardner] |
| 6604 | Saying 'It's all a matter to taste' ignores the properties of the object discussed [Fogelin] |