A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful (Oxford World's Classics)

"Pain and pleasure are simple ideas, incapable of definition."

In 1757, the 27-year-old Edmund Burke argued that our aesthetic responses are experienced as pure emotional arousal, unencumbered by intellectual considerations. By doing so, he overturned the Platonic tradition in aesthetics that had prevailed from antiquity until the eighteenth century. Burke replaced metaphysics with psychology and even physiology as the foundation of the subject.

Key aspects of Burke's theory:

• Beauty: Encompasses the female form, nature, art, and poetry.
• The Sublime: Analyses our delight in effects that thrill and excite us.

Burke's revolutionary method continues to influence aesthetic theories today. His shift in sensibility paved the way for literary and artistic movements, including:

• The Gothic novel
• Romanticism
• Twentieth-century painting
• And beyond.

About this edition:

In this new edition, Paul Guyer guides readers through Burke's Enquiry. He focuses on:

• Its place in the history of aesthetics.
• Its innovations.
• Its influence on subsequent authors, including Kant, Schiller, Ruskin, and Nietzsche.