Full Idea
Our aesthetic must stand to be judged by great works of art which we know to be such independently. …So let us start by saying that Shakespeare is the greatest of all artists, and let our aesthetic be the philosophical justification of this judgement.
Gist of Idea
We should first decide what are the great works of art, with aesthetic theory following from that
Source
Iris Murdoch (The Sublime and the Good [1959], p.205)
Book Reference
Murdoch,Iris: 'Existentialists and Mystics', ed/tr. Conradi,Peter [Chatto and Windus 1997], p.205
A Reaction
She offers this view in specific contradiction of Tolstoy, which says we should first have a theory, and then judge accordingly. I take Murdoch to be entirely right, but it means that our aesthetic theory will shift over time.