What really is 'Aesthetics'

Blissful Aesthetics Grenada

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aesthetics

or es·thet·ics

noun

1. used with a sing. verb
   a. The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, expression, and perception of beauty, as in the fine arts.
   b. The study of the psychological responses to beauty and artistic experiences.
2. used with a sing. or pl. verb
   a. A conception of what is artistically valid or beautiful: minimalist aesthetics.
   b. An artistically beautiful or pleasing appearance: “They're looking for quality construction, not aesthetics” ( Ron Schram )

In practice, we distinguish between aesthetic judgments (the appreciation of any object, not necessarily an art object) and artistic judgments (the appreciation or criticism of a work of art). Thus aesthetics is broader in scope than the philosophy of art. It is also broader than the philosophy of beauty, in that it applies to any of the responses we might expect works of art or entertainment to elicit, whether positive or negative.

Aestheticians ask questions like "What is a work of art?", "What makes a work of art successful?", "Why do we find certain things beautiful?", "How can things of very different categories be considered equally beautiful?", "Is there a connection between art and morality?", "Can art be a vehicle of truth?", "Are aesthetic judgments objective statements or purely subjective expressions of personal attitudes?", "Can aesthetic judgments be improved or trained?"

In very general terms, it examines what makes something beautiful, sublime, disgusting, fun, cute, silly, entertaining, pretentious, discordant, harmonious, boring, humorous or tragic.