Aesthetics (or esthetics) (from the Greek word αισθητική meaning a perceiver or sensitive) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty. The word aesthetics was first used by German philosopher Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, who helped to establish the study of aesthetics as a separate philosophical field of study. The word aesthetic can be used as a noun meaning "that which appeals to the senses." The term Philosophy derives from a combination of the Greek words philos meaning love and sophia meaning wisdom. ... This page is about the pleasant phenomenon. ... A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ... Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (June 17, 1714 _ May 26, 1762) was a German philosopher. ...

Some of the meaning of aesthetic as an adjective can be illuminated by comparing it to anaesthetic, which is by construction an antonym of aesthetic. If something is anaesthetic, it tends to dull the senses or cause sleepiness. In contrast, aesthetic may be thought of as anything that tends to enliven or invigorate or wake one up. Anesthesia (AE), also anaesthesia (BE), is the process of blocking the perception of pain and other sensations. ... Antonyms (from the Greek words anti = against and onoma = name) are word pairs that are opposite in meaning, such as hot and cold, fat and thin, and up and down. ...

Aesthetics in the visual arts

Within the visual arts aesthetic considerations are usually associated with the visual sense, however in both painting and sculpture the presence of the object is also perceived spatially and to some extent by the senses of smell, sound and texture as well as through recognised associations and context. The form of the work can be subject to an aesthetic as much as the content. With painting the aesthetic convention that we see a three dimensional representation rather than a two dimensional plane is so well understood that most people do not realise that they are making an aesthetic interpretation. This was the basis of abstract impressionism This article is about the meanings of the word form connected with shape or structure. ... Content can mean Comfort and a feeling of satisfaction Creations, as in open content or free content. ... Abstract impressionism is a term used to describe works with non-energetic, uniformal brushstrokes without any climax. ...

Although any individual's aesthetic response to a work of visual art will be unique to that individual, many aesthetic principles can be identified and used by the creator of the work to achieve specific aesthetic effects. These include, tonal variation, juxtaposition, repetition, field effects, symmetry/asymmetry, perceived mass, subliminal structure, linear dynamics, tension and repose, pattern, contrast, perspective, 3 dimensionality, movement, rhythm, unity/Gestalt, matrixiality and proportion. See also Semiotics of Ideal Beauty Symmetry is a characteristic of geometrical shapes, equations, and other objects; we say that such an object is symmetric with respect to a given operation if this operation, when applied to the object, does not appear to change it. ... Symmetry is a characteristic of geometrical shapes, equations and other objects; we say that such an object is symmetric with respect to a given operation if this operation, when applied to the object, does not appear to change it. ... A pattern is a form, template, or model (or, more abstractly, a set of rules) which can be used to make or to generate things or parts of a thing, especially if the things that are generated have enough in common for the underlying pattern to be inferred or discerned... Perspective is a broad term that has the following distinctive, albeit closely related meanings. ... The Groom Bewitched, woodcut, c. ... Rhythm (Greek ρυθμός = tempo) is the variation of the duration of sounds or other events over time. ... Gestalt is a German word meaning shape or form. ... The golden ratio is a number, approximately 1. ... The Semiotics of Ideal Beauty asks whether there can ever be a single yardstick of beauty or whether what is recognised as beauty will be in continuous flux as each culture evolves and establishes new measures of social acceptability. ...

Aesthetics in music

Main article: Aesthetics of music.

Music has the ability to affect our emotions, intellect, and our psychology; lyrics can assuage our loneliness or incite our passions. As such, music is a powerful art form whose aesthetic appeal is highly dependent upon the culture in which it is practiced. The aesthetics of music or musical aesthetics is the quality and study of the beauty and enjoyment (plaisir and jouissance), the aesthetics, of music. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Wikicities has a wiki about Music: Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary All Music Guide: includes a comprehensive and flexible Genre and Style system MusicWiki: A Collaborative Music-related encyclopedia Science of Music: Multimedia exploration of the... In psychology and common terminology, emotion is the language of a persons internal state of being, normally based in or tied to their internal (physical) and external (social) sensory feeling. ... Intelligence is a general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and language, and learn. ... Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul and logos = word) is the study of behaviour, mind and thought. ... Lyric can have a number of meanings. ...

Some of the aesthetic elements expressed in music include lyricism, harmony, hypnotism, emotiveness, temporal dynamics, resonance, playfulness, and colour (see Musical development). Lyrics are the written words in a song. ... Harmony is the use and study of pitch simultaneity and chords, actual or implied, in music. ... Hypnosis, as defined by the American Psychological Association Division of Psychological Hypnosis, is a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests that a client, patient, or experimental participant experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior. ... For the 1991 hit single from Mariah Carey, see Emotions (Mariah Carey song). ... This article is about resonance in physics. ... Musical development is the transformation and restatement of initial material, often contrasted with musical variation, with which it may be difficult to distinguish as a general process. ...

Aesthetics in architecture

Applying aesthetic considerations to buildings and related architectural structures is complex, as factors extrinsic to spatial design (such as structural integrity, cost, the nature of building materials, and the functional utility of the building) contribute heavily to the design process. Architecture (in Greek αρχή = first and τέχνη = craftsmanship) is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. ...

Notwithstanding, architects can still apply the aesthetic principles of ornamentation, edge deliniation, texture, flow, solemnity, symmetry, color, granularity, the interaction of sunlight and shadows, transcendence, and harmony. Ornament is frequently used to denote: An element of decoration. ... Transcendentalism was the name of a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture and philosophy that advocates that there is an ideal spiritual state that transcends the physical and empirical and is only realized through a knowledgeable intuitive awareness that is conditional upon the individual. ...

Aesthetics in the performing arts

Performing artists appeals to our aesthetics of storytelling, grace, balance, class, timing, strength, shock, humor, costume, irony, beauty, and sensuality. For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed... Storytelling is the art of portraying in words, images, and sounds what has happened in real or imagined events. ... Grace may stand for: favors received from God, see divine grace a short prayer said before a meal to bless and give thanks for it, in folk practices of Christianity and other religions. ... This article discusses humour in terms of comedy and laughter. ... The term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. ... This page is about the pleasant phenomenon. ...

Aesthetics in literature

Encompassing poetry, short stories, novels and non-fiction, authors use a variety of techniques to appeal to our aesthetic values. Depending on the type of writing an author may employ rhythm, illustrations, structure, time shifting, juxtaposition, dualism, imagery, fantasy, suspense, analysis, humor/cynicism, and thinking aloud. Bust of Homer, one of the earliest European poets, in the British Museum Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... This article is in need of attention. ... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... Non-fiction is a truthful account or representation of a subject which is composed of facts. ... The term dualism is the state of being dual, or having a twofold division. ... Imagery--words that create a picture. ... Look up Fantasy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary For other definitions of fantasy, see fantasy (psychology). ... One of the premier programs of the Golden Age of Radio (now known as old-time radio), Suspense advertised itself as radios oustanding theater of thrills and was heard in one form or another from 1942 through 1962. ... This article discusses humour in terms of comedy and laughter. ...

In literary aesthetics, the study of affect creates an awareness of the deep structures of reading and receiving literary works. Affect refers to the emotional sense created in the reader or receiver of a literary work. These affects may be broadly grouped by their mode of writing, and relationship the reader assumes with time. Catharsis is the affect of dramatic completition of action in time. Kairosis is the affect of novels whose characters become integrated in time. Kenosis is the affect of lyric poetry which creates a sense of emptiness and timelessness. Wikisource Every Author - Online books and writers forums A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism, and Philology (José Ángel García Landa, University of Zaragoza, Spain) Open Directory Project: Literature World Literature Electronic Text Archives Magazines and E-zines Online Writing Writers Resources Libraries, Digital Cataloguing, Metadata Distance Learning T... In psychology, affect is an emotion or subjectively experienced feeling, or the involvement of such processes in a psychological system or theory. ... Catharsis is a sudden emotional breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming feelings of great pity, sorrow, laughter, or any extreme change in emotion that results in the renewal, restoration and revitalization for living. ... Drama is a term generally used to refer to a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform. ... Kairosis is the literary affect of fulfillment in time. ... Kenosis is a Greek word for emptiness, which is used as a theological term. ... Lyric can have a number of meanings. ...

Aesthetics in landscape design

Landscape designers employ design elements such as axis, line, landform, horizontal and vertical planes, texture, and scale to create aesthetic variation within the landscape. They may additionally utilize pools or fountains of water, plants, seasonal variance, stonework, fragrance, exterior lighting, statues, and lawns as aesthetic elements. Landscape architecture is the art, planning, design, management, preservation and rehabilitation of the land and the design of large-scale man-made constructs. ... An ornamental lit fountain photographed at night for about 6 seconds. ... Divisions Green algae land plants (embryophytes) non-vascular embryophytes Hepatophyta - liverworts Anthocerophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses vascular plants (tracheophytes) seedless vascular plants Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongue ferns seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering... Dressed masonry in Barcelona, Spain, with lintel and arch. ... Odor receptors on the antennae of a Luna moth An odor is the object of perception of the sense of olfaction. ... Architect lamps Lighting refers to the devices or techniques used for illumination, usually referring to artificial light sources such as lamps or flashlights. ... A typical lawn A lawn is a cultivated, mowed field planted with grass and sometimes clover and other plants. ...

Culinary aesthetics

Although food is a basic and frequently experienced commodity, careful attention to the aesthetic possibilities of foodstuffs can turn eating into gastronomy. Chefs inspire our aesthetic enjoyment through the visual sense using colour and arrangement, as well as our senses of taste and smell using spices, diversity/contrast, anticipation, seduction, and decoration/garnishes. External links Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject: Spice Food Bacteria-Spice Survey Shows Why Some Cultures Like It Hot Citat: ...Garlic, onion, allspice and oregano, for example, were found to be the best all-around bacteria killers (they kill everything). ...

Aesthetics in information technology

The push to make all aspects of information technology as user-friendly as possible has led to a number of advances during the study of human-computer interaction. The design of the graphical user interface has been shown to have a great effect on productivity and the design of the computer hardware has seen unappealing boxes develop into common devices that no longer seem out of place in a living room. Categories: Information technology ... User-friendly is a term often used to describe software and other technologies. ... Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the study of interaction between people (users) and computers. ... An example of graphical user interface in Mac OS X A graphical user interface (or GUI, pronounced gooey) is a method of interacting with a computer through a metaphor of direct manipulation of graphical images and widgets in addition to text. ... Hardware comprises all of the physical parts of a computer, as distinguished from the data it contains or operates on, and the software that provides instructions for the hardware to accomplish tasks. ...

Aesthetics in mathematics

Main article: Aesthetics in mathematics.

Most mathematicians derive aesthetic pleasure from their work, and from mathematics in general. They express this pleasure by describing mathematics (or, at least, some aspect of mathematics) as beautiful. Sometimes mathematicians describe mathematics as an art form or, at a minimum, as a creative activity. Comparisons are often made with music and poetry. Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdös expressed his views on the ineffability of mathematics when he said "Why are numbers beautiful? It's like asking why is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is." Most mathematicians derive aesthetic pleasure from their work, and from mathematics in general. ... A mathematician is a person whose area of study and research is mathematics. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Mathematics Wikiquote quotations related to: Mathematics Look up Mathematics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Mathematics Bogomolny, Alexander: Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. ... Great Museums in the World (Louvre, Metropolitan Museum, MoMA, Picasso …) CGFA: A Virtual Art Museum Very large website with good reproduction quality scans of thousands of paintings Goetia Fine Art - Surrealism Art History With biographies and Works of the Surrealist Masters Art-Atlas. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Wikicities has a wiki about Music: Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary All Music Guide: includes a comprehensive and flexible Genre and Style system MusicWiki: A Collaborative Music-related encyclopedia Science of Music: Multimedia exploration of the... Bust of Homer, one of the earliest European poets, in the British Museum Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... To say that something is ineffable means that it cannot or should not be spoken. ...

Neuroesthetics

Cognitive science has also considered aesthetics, with the advent of neuroesthetics, pioneered by Semir Zeki, which seeks to explain the greatness of great art as an embodiment of biological principles of the brain, namely that great works of art capture the essence of things just as vision and the brain capture the essentials of the world from the ever-changing stream of sensory input. Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ... Neuroesthetics is a rapidly growing subdiscipline of neuroscience seeking to explain and understand the esthetics of domains such as art and music at the neurological level. ... Semir Zeki is Professor of Neurobiology at University College London. ... In the anatomy of animals, the brain, or encephalon, is the supervisory center of the nervous system. ...

External links

• Aesthetics in art
  • Saw: Design Notes (http://daphne.palomar.edu/design/contents.html)
  • Krouth: Art Curriculum (http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/whitehorse/art.htm)
  • Hagaman: Aesthetics in Art Education: A Look Toward Implementation (http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9219/art.htm)
• Aesthetics in music
  • Norton: Musical Materials (http://www.wwnorton.com/enjoy/index/materials/materials.htm)
  • Malloy: Music Outline (http://www.uwgb.edu/malloyk/music_outline.htm)
• Aesthetics in architecture
  • Lee/Stroik: Christian Architecture (http://www.catholic.net/beauty_and_truth/template_article.phtml?article_id=400&channel_id=4)
  • Salingaros: Life and Complexity in Architecture (http://www.math.utsa.edu/sphere/salingar/LifeandComp.html)
• Aesthetics in the performing arts
  • Poddubiuk: Costume Design (http://www.artsalive.ca/en/eth/design/costume.html)
  • Sardo: Theatrical Costume (http://www.costumepage.org/tcpinfo4.html#drama)
  • Morden: Storytelling (http://www.nt-online.org/?lid=2393)
• Culinary aesthetics
  • Susheela Uhl: Ethnic Entrees (http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1998/0698CS.html)
  • Leslie English: To Eat is Human (http://www.chronogram.com/backIssues/1998/07july/articles/english.html)
• Aesthetics in mathematics
  • Is Mathematics Beautiful? (http://www.cut-the-knot.org/manifesto/beauty.shtml)
  • Links Concerning Beauty and Mathematics (http://www.madras.fife.sch.uk/maths/linksbeauty.html)

See also: morality, ethics, aestheticism, aestheticization of violence, aestheticization as propaganda Morality is a system of principles and judgments based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans determine whether given actions are right or wrong. ... Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the science (study) of morality. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is good or right. ... The Aesthetic movement is a loosely defined movement in art and literature in later nineteenth century Britain. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...