Sentence:  All such imitations of negative <WSD>quality</WSD> have given rise to a compensatory response in the form of a heroic and highly individualistic humanism : if man can neither know nor love reality as it is , he can at least invent an artistic `` reality '' which is its own world and which can speak to man of purely personal and subjective qualities capable of being known and worthy of being loved . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone