Full context:   Aesthetics, sometimes spelled esthetics, is the systematic study of beauty, art, and taste. As a branch of philosophy, it examines which types of aesthetic phenomena there are, how people experience them, and how objects evoke them. This field also investigates the nature of aesthetic judgments, the meaning of artworks, and the problem of art criticism. Key questions in aesthetics include "What is art?", "Can aesthetic judgments be objective?", and "How is aesthetic value related to other values?". One characterization distinguishes between three main approaches to aesthetics: the study of aesthetic concepts and judgments, the study of aesthetic experiences and other mental responses, and the study of the nature and features of aesthetic objects. In a slightly different sense, the term aesthetics can also refer to particular theories of beauty or to beautiful appearances.