Aesthetics asks: what makes something beautiful? Is beauty objective or subjective? What distinguishes art from non-art? Why does art matter morally and socially? The Stanford Encyclopedia entry gives a comprehensive map of the field.
This is one of aesthetics' central debates. Subjectivists say yes — aesthetic judgements express personal responses. Objectivists say no — some things really are beautiful independent of anyone's reaction. Hume proposed a middle path: trained judges whose responses converge reveal genuine aesthetic properties. Our guide on this question covers the main positions.