Virginia Postrel on Aesthetics

Virginia Postrel's main argument is that aesthetics are emerging as an important facet of life that provide enriching and substantive pleasure.  Postrel uses the loci of quality to structure her value hierarchy. It is apparent that Postrel is focusing on the loci of quality because she specifically mentions terms like unique, individual, and special.  She gives each of these elements and their relation to aesthetics ample consideration in her argument. The unique, beautiful, and pleasant aspects of aesthetics elevate it, writes Postrel, to a greater importance now than its ever held in the past.  Postrel supports this argument with examples of current design choices and consumer preferences.  She writes that with more aesthetic freedom comes more expression and more individual satisfaction.  Instinctually, we are attracted to the sensory elements of aesthetics.  This innate preferance for sense stimulation is changing the way that we approach aesthetics and how businesses are implementing them in order to satiate their clients.  According to this argument, aesthetic considerations are simply another facet of the reasoning that informs our choices.