Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The word aesthetic, which originally meant perception by the senses, has had its meaning particularised so that it usually is associated with perception of a specific kind. In this sense it is applied to the appreciative attitude of the discerning mind towards the beautiful in art and in nature.<br><br>Philosophy has spent not a little time and trouble on the attempt to formulate and define the essential nature of the beautiful; but what one regards as beautiful, another will either lack interest in or even positively dislike, and such attempts, therefore, have not been particularly successful.<br><br>This conflict of tastes is particularly noticeable in the case of the Art of Music.