CLIL CLIL CLIL PHILOSOPHY WHAT IS BEAUTY? Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and appreciation of art, beauty and good taste. It has also been defined as critical reflection on art, culture and nature . The word aesthetics derives from the Greek aisthetikos , meaning of sense perception . In ancient Greece, Plato felt that beautiful objects incorporated proportion, harmony and unity among their parts, whilst Aristotle found that the universal elements of beauty were order, symmetry and definiteness. Western Medieval art at least until the revival of classical ideals during the Renaissance was highly religious. A religious message was considered more important than figurative accuracy or inspired composition. The skill of an artisan was considered a gift from God for the only purpose of disclosing God to mankind. In practice, we distinguish between judgments related to beauty in general (the appreciation of an object, not necessarily an art object) and artistic judgments (the appreciation or criticism of a work of art). Therefore, aesthetics is broader in scope than the philosophy of art. It is also broader than the philosophy of beauty, because 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, aesthetics examines what makes something beautiful, sublime, disgusting, fun, cute, silly, entertaining, pretentious, discordant, harmonious, boring, humorous or tragic. Raffaello Sanzio, School of Athens, 1509-1511, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City (With Plato and Aristotle in the middle). GLOSSARY to argue: to give the reasons for your opinion, idea, belief, etc. branch: a part of something larger 286 broad: large, extensive cute: pleasant and attractive to elicit: to provoke, to arouse to question: to ask scope: range, extent therefore: consequently