Is it acceptable to use a gerund phrase as the subject of a sentence? More generally, can a gerund phrase be used interchangeably with other nouns? For example:
Understanding history enhances one's judgment.
I feel it makes more sense to write:
An understanding of history enhances one's judgment.
It seems that virtually all nouns that are based on verbs and end in -ing are simply gerunds that have broken free. However, there can subtle differences.
When used as a straight noun, especially with an article, the gerunds-now-nouns tend to refer to the specific:
The acting was incredible. [This particular acting event was praiseworthy.]
When used in a classical gerund form, the phrase is more universal:
Acting is incredible. [The act of acting, in general, is transformative.]
While both forms are grammatically correct, and both sound fine, there may be subtle differences depending on the context. Or there may not. The offered examples appear equivalent.
Both sentences in your question mean the same thing. Both are grammatically correct and, unfortunately, idiomatic.
I say "unfortunately", because contemporary native speakers of English often prefer the second style, which is unnecessarily (and pointlessly) verbose, and because they will also use the now-skunked word "enhances" to mean "improves" or "increases" when it really (IMHO) should be used only to mean "adds {value/flexibility} to".
Only context can allow an answer to the question "Can a gerund phrase be used interchangeably with other nouns?" Although it's common to believe that any noun phrase can fit into a blank labeled "noun phrase" in a fill-in-the-blank type of English test, the meanings of the noun phrases in question have to be considered. In this case, yes. In another case? Who knows? Give us specific pairs to look at.
Generally, the answer is probably "Probably". As FumbleFingers says in his comment, "It's entirely a stylistic choice in this example."
