A philosophical stance that prioritizes aesthetic values over social or moral ones, often associated with late 19th-century art movements.
He evaluated art from the standpoint of aestheticism.
耽美主義 also means aestheticism but often carries a stronger nuance of decadence or indulgence in beauty, closely tied to the fin-de-siècle Decadent movement.
Compound of 審美 (shinbi, 'aesthetic appreciation') and 主義 (shugi, '-ism'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the term likely entered Japanese as a translation of Western 'aestheticism' in the modern period.