By Austin Cline, About.com Guide What is Aesthetics?

: Aesthetics is the study of beauty and taste, whether in the form of the comic, the tragic, or the sublime. The word derives from the Greek aisthetikos, meaning "of sense perception." Aesthetics has traditionally been part of philosophical pursuits like epistemology or ethics, but it started to come into its own and become a more independent pursuit under Immanuel Kant, the German philosopher who saw aesthetics as a unitary and self-sufficient type of human experience. Because of art's historical role in the transmission of religion and religious beliefs, atheists should have something to say on this topic. Aesthetics and Art: Aesthetics is a concept not easily broken down into simpler ideas, making it difficult to explain. When we speak of something that creates an aesthetic experience, we are usually talking about some form of art; yet the mere fact that we are discussing a work of art does not guarantee that we are also discussing aesthetics the two are not equivalent. Not all works of art necessarily create an aesthetic experience, for example when we look at a painting to determine how much we can sell it for. Our sense of aesthetics: beauty Everyone has a sense for beauty. Whether a beautiful landscape, a beautiful tiger, a beautiful peacock, or a beautiful rose or tree, or a beautiful human being, all are sources of aesthetical feeling. They raise in us some kind of admiration, some sort of delight. This sensual perception passes through our eye lens directly into our zone of aesthetics in our brain. Thus sense is abrupt, automatic, simple, direct and clear. It is an immediate reaction for recognizing something beautiful. Beauty in all its manifestations play a pleasing role in our lives. Did you observe what nature bestows on animals, flora and humans some sort of a beauty touch, a beauty gown, that might persist for some time in the lives of the subject itself.

Whether beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder or it is inherent and radiant in the object itself is an open question. In other words do beautiful things appear to us as such or does their beauty belong to these things without our intervention? Can beauty exist on its own? Or do we have to be there in order to seize its beauty?

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the definition 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 philisophical field of study. The word aesthetic can be used as a noun meaning "that which appeals to the senses." Someone's aesthetic has a lot to do with their artistic judgement. For example, an individual who wears flowered clothing, drives a flowered car, and paints their home with flowers has a particular aesthetic. 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. Article: This Man Cant Stop Innovating I love the fact that these stories are getting more face time in the media. I think, as designers, we usually aggrandize the crazy cool electronics/cars/footwear. They are cool but i usually feel that the real opportunities to make peoples lives better exist in the more mundane daily chores. Im not trying to lesson the accomplishments of any of those industries but its nice to be brought down to reality and see individuals take up the calling to make life easier outside of our rich consumer based economy. These individuals have less money, materials, and man power yet manage to have such a greater impact on the people in their community. I think theres a lot to be learned from these design stars and the areas they live in. Maybe we can help. I have a ton of this kind of stuff ( i.e. innovation with the resources available in less develop areas) and ive been thinking a lot about it. If your interested in seeing more let me know in the comments and ill do another more inclusive post.