A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful
By Edmund Burke
1796
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One of the most influential thinkers of the eighteenth century, Edmund Burke wrote extensively on politics, society, and aesthetics. In this important work, he advances his notion that the sublime and the beautiful should be seen as two distinct and entirely unique states, the one being an expression of pleasure and tranquillity and the second being an experience inspired by dread and awe. A Philosophical Enquiry is an engaging overview of our sensory, imaginative, and judgemental processes and how they relate to appreciating the arts. It is eloquent and profound. Burke's writing had a significant impact on his contemporaries, and succeeding authors like Matthew Arnold and William Wordsworth loved it. Several of his early political writings on topics including natural society, government, and the American colonies are also included in this edition.
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Author
Edmund Burke
Author · 21 books
Edmund Burke was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist, and philosopher who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. He is mainly remembered for his support of the American colonies in the dispute with King George III and Great Britain that led to the American Revolution and for his strong opposition to the French Revolution. The latter made Burke one of the leading figures within the conservative faction of the Whig party (which he dubbed the "Old Whigs"), in opposition to the pro-French-Revolution "New Whigs", led by Charles James Fox. Burke also published a philosophical work where he attempted to define emotions and passions, and how they are triggered in a person. Burke worked on aesthetics and founded the Annual Register, a political review. He is often regarded by conservatives as the philosophical founder of Anglo-American conservatism.
