Aesthetics

Definition of Aesthetics
Aesthetics may be defined
narrowly as the theory of
beauty, or simply a
philosophy of art.
 Aesthetics has traditionally been part of other philosophical pursuits like
the investigation of ethics. However, it started to come into its own and
become a more independent pursuit under Immanuel Kant, the German
philosopher .

It comes from the word:

Aesthesia: the ability to feel or
perceive; being awake and
able to feel senses.

The opposite is:

Anesthesia: the inability to feel
or perceive; to be asleep or
non-feeling.
We make informal
aesthetic choices every
day.
From what we wear . . .
to the things we
buy: books,
music, and
objects for our
homes.
Public figures make aesthetic
choices to convey something
about who they are.

Andy Warhol various silver

wigs throughout the ’60s,
’70s, and ’80s to change his
personal appearance--to
create a signature look.
The aesthetic choices we make influence many
parts of our lives.

We all have a personal aesthetic

(preferences and tastes based on what we see).
Aesthetics as Philosophy of Arts

• Art, the product of creative human activity

in which materials are shaped or selected to
convey an idea, emotion, or visually
interesting form.
 What Should We Judge When We
Judge Art?

• Every person might judge art separately on his or her own

merits, and each costume or line is its own work of art

• Similar problems arise for music, film and even painting.

For instance, are we to judge the painting itself or the work
of the painter?
 What should art be like?
• Many goals have been argued for art, and aestheticians often argue
that some goal or another is superior in someway.

• Formal goals, creative goals, self-expression, political goals, spiritual

goals, philosophical goals, and even more perceptual or aesthetic goals
have all been popular pictures of what art should be like.
 What is the value of art?

• Closely related to the question of what art should be like is

the question of what its value is. Is art a means of gaining
knowledge of some special kind?
• How does art relate to science or religion?
• Art clearly does have spiritual goals in many settings, but
then what exactly is the difference between religious art
and religion per se?
 Aesthetics in different fields
• Information technology:
Aesthetics in information technology has focused upon the
study of human-computer interaction and creating user-friendly
devices and software applications.
• Fashion Design:
Fashion designers use a variety of techniques to allow people
to express the truth about their unconscious minds by way of
their clothing. To create wearable personality designers use
fabric, cut, color, scale, references to the past, texture, color
harmony, distressing, transparency, accessories etc.
 Value of Aesthetics

• Something that has purely useful value might be cheap and

practical, but people are usually interested in a little
aesthetic value, too, even if it adds something in weight,
cost, time, etc. For example, much of the design of
automobiles has to do with aesthetic value and not
function. 
Conclusion