A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful
by Edmund Burke
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1757
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 180 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendA Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and BeautifulOxford World's Classics, 2015Paul Guyer's edition, with the introductory essay On Taste and useful notes on the physiology and aesthetics Burke drew on.
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Burke's early treatise on aesthetics, written in his twenties, separates two feelings that earlier writers had run together. The sublime arises from whatever excites the idea of pain and danger without actually threatening us, obscurity, vastness, power, darkness and infinity, and is the strongest emotion the mind can feel. The beautiful arises from smallness, smoothness, gradual variation and delicacy and inspires love. Burke grounds both in the body's nerves, and closes with a section on how words move us more than pictures do.
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The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.