Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy, involving the investigation of beauty  — visual, audio, what makes something appealing or ugly. When discussing whether or not something is aesthetically pleasing or repelling, we analyse factors involved, such as harmony, discord, context and trends.

The idea of aisthanomai, or ‘perception by the senses’ in Greek, was coined by Alexander Baum — involving the philosophy of art and the experience and characteristics of non-art (such as products of nature).

Philosophers such as Hume and Burke have investigated how emotions may have a part to play in whether or not something is aesthetically pleasing; Kant argued that there may be universally held feelings of attraction or distaste that could be used to judge appeal.

Since that time, arguments involving circumstances in the creation of works, or whether the key to beauty involves particular judgements about practices in society — one thing that can be certain is that the definition of what makes something beautiful or not, is a long-term and ongoing debate!