For some people the hierarchy of aesthetic values IS the main point. Far from being a damaging distraction, the way Art lends itself to being categorized and RANKED is precisely what gives it its value. For such people, if there is no way of answering the question "how good is it? is it better than ...?" the game cannot be played at all. The criteria for deciding that THIS is better or worse than THAT have to be extremely arbitrary and difficult to apply--otherwise any fool would be able to tell the good from the bad.

You gotta problem with that? I do. I'm not saying I don't have my own hierarchies, (and they're better than yours, don't forget!), but they often get in my way. I'd like to dismantle them, not systematize them, or "reify" them as we used to say in grad school. My prejudices don't make me better than I would be without 'em.

So anything goes? Not really. Blandly accepting everything as more or less equal does no good either, because it's a lie. I don't have a solution to this aporia. I'll keep thinking about it.