Who among the following defined taste as “that faculty of the soul, which discerns the beauties of an author with pleasure, and the imperfections with dislike?”

The correct option is Joseph Addison.

Explanation:
The definition of taste as “that faculty of the soul, which discerns the beauties of an author with pleasure, and the imperfections with dislike” was formulated by the famous English essayist, poet, and politician Joseph Addison.
This quote appears in his celebrated series of essays on aesthetics, specifically in The Spectator No. 409, published on June 19, 1712.

In this essay, Addison seeks to define and analyze the nature of literary taste. He asserts that while a person may possess a natural capacity for taste, it is a faculty that must be cultivated and refined through education, critical reading, and exposure to classical literature. Addison's essays in The Spectator were highly influential in shaping 18th-century British aesthetics and literary criticism.