A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was an Irish statesman, philosopher, and the founder of modern British conservativism. Burke was born in Dublin, the son of a wealthy attorney. His mother was a registered Catholic, a fact which was used against him later in life when his political enemies accused him of adherence to Catholicism. Burke attended Trinity College in Dublin and London’s Middle Temple. When he left university, Burke was preoccupied with two main areas of interest: the overlap between religion and politics, and philosophical methods for understanding and thinking about the world. Although Burke is considered an important historical philosopher, his career was focused on political development and public policy.

As John Locke entered and overtook the academic and political discussions of the 1700s, his Essay Concerning Human Understanding became a foundational text for philosophers. Thinkers developed a greater interest in epistemology and the unlocking of how the brain produced and carried out ideas. At age 28, Burke wrote and published A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful, a study of how the mind perceives and appreciates the arts. Prior to his work, most critics embraced classical views of art and literature. Immanuel Kant and Denis Diderot, well-known European philosophers, were greatly influenced by Burke’s ideas about aesthetics and later responded to his ideas.

The same year he published A Philosophical Enquiry, Burke married Jane Mary Nugent. The couple had two sons; the eldest passed away during infancy. During this period, Burke developed his reputation as a statesman and published several philosophical and political works. Burke worked as private secretary to William Gerard Hamilton, chief secretary for Ireland, and Charles, marquess of Rockingham, prime minister of Great Britain. By December 1765, Burke was serving in the House of Commons for Wendover in Buckinghamshire. He was highly involved in new developments with the American colonies, including the separation between the colonies and Great Britain. Burke was a critic of the far-reaching power of the monarchy and published his views in Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents in April 1770.

When the American colonies expressed discontent with King George III over taxation, Burke gave a speech in the House of Commons in 1775, supporting the colonies and the repeal of the tea tax. He believed that American colonists bore the same adherence to liberty and justice that his English peers did, and that they would not back down from the fight. Furthermore, he pressured members of the House to see the financial loss that would incur if they continued to place such fiscal pressure on the colonies. He argued that any use of force would only advance the disagreement and place Britain in the dubious position of fighting on unstudied territory. He suggested parliament allow American colonists to be represented in the House and to stop excess taxation.

In spite of his support for the American colonists, Burke later became known as one of the most famous critics of revolutionary ideals in the 1790s. Burke’s most influential work as a political thinker is his Reflections on the Revolution in France, which was first published in 1790. In his Reflections, Burke argued against the French Revolution and warned that its radical ideas of social and political reform could be dangerous. He defended the traditional systems of monarchy, hereditary aristocracy, and religion while expressing skepticism toward the idea of “natural rights” that the French Revolution championed. His Reflections is considered one of the founding texts of modern conservatism.

Burke was opposed to the trading of enslaved peoples and even proposed a bill that would ban enslavers from serving on the House of Commons. His views were founded on his Christian beliefs. However, Burke believed that European colonists were responsible for educating and assimilating non-European peoples.