noun
also es·thet·i·cism esˈthed.əˌsizəm, is-, əs-, -etə-, Brit usually ēs-
( -s )
1.
a. : the doctrine that the principles of beauty are basic and that other principles (as of the good or the right) are derived from them
b. : the advocacy of artistic and aesthetic autonomy, especially of freedom of art from any interference on political, religious, social, or moral grounds
2. : an extensive, singular, or excessive devotion to or emphasis on aesthetic experiences or the search for beauty especially as evidenced by a cultivation of the arts to the neglect of other human interests