How did Francis Hutcheson explain the human ability to judge beauty?

Francis Hutcheson explained the human ability to judge beauty through the concept of an internal "sense," a theory he detailed in his work An Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue (1725).12

Rather than relying on intellectual analysis or reflection on principles, Hutcheson argued that our perception of beauty and harmony is immediate and instinctive. He categorized this as an "internal sense," distinct from our five external senses, which allows humans to perceive beauty without the need for prior reasoning.12

By framing aesthetic judgment as a perceptual experience common to all people, Hutcheson placed the problem of beauty at the center of epistemology. He maintained that because this sense involves no intellectual element, it provides a direct and authoritative basis for our aesthetic evaluations. This approach was part of his broader Empiricist philosophy, which also posited the existence of a similar "moral sense" used to instinctively judge the virtue of human actions.12