Aesthetics

Aesthetics is a field of study within the discipline of philosophy that, at least currently and during much of the 20th century, has addressed questions about the nature and function of art. Aesthetic theory became part of the discourse within the evaluation field primarily through the work of Elliot Eisner. Eisner used aesthetic theory from a number of philosophers (such as Susanne Langer and John Dewey) to conceptualize and create a justifying rationale for an approach to evaluation based on art criticism. Among other things, Eisner's connoisseurship-criticism model emphasized the use of literary techniques to capture and communicate the aesthetic dimensions of the phenomena being evaluated.