The Idea of the Sublime

Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797) developed his conception of the sublime in A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1756). He argued that, while sublimity and beauty are mutually exclusive, either can provide pleasure. Sublimity may evoke horror, but knowledge that the perception is a fiction is pleasing.

Burke focuses on the physiological effects of sublimity, in particular the dual emotional quality of fear and attraction. He described the sensation attributed to sublimity as a negative pain or “delight” which is distinct from positive pleasure. "Delight" is thought to result from the removal of pain, caused by confronting a sublime object, and supposedly is more intense than positive pleasure.

The reading is part two of Burke’s A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. It takes about 45 to 55 minutes to read.

Some YouTube entries: The School of Life, “Burke on: The Sublime” (4:21), BBC Radio 4, “Edmund Burke on the Sublime” (1:48), and an audio from Grace Podcasts, “Burke: Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful” (12:41).

Philosophy and psychology have considered the connections between the sublime and the experience of awe. If you’re interested in those connections you may want to look at these three articles: Awe & Sublimity [Philosophy Now], Intersections Between Awe and the Sublime: A Preliminary Empirical Study [Academia], and Awe and the Experience of the Sublime: A Complex Relationship [Frontiers in Psychology].

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