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A review by david_rhee
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful by Edmund Burke
2.0
As important as John Locke is to philosophy, his influence is sure to lead to the production of books like Burke's work on aesthetics. The reader is warned early at least. Burke proposes to outline aesthetics in scientific fashion because he truly believes its components must fall into line as the dictates of Reason do. *cringe* Just as Locke believed morality and ethics would be broken down into perfectly mapped out sciences if we just stopped and properly defined our "clear and distinct terms," Burke proceeds to catalog the aesthetic buzzwords that we can't go without. Look, Locke's moral science didn't happen. So this ain't happening either. Think Hume's book on morality. You're not getting any philosophical enquiry. You're getting a handbook.
Kant's treatment of the sublime in Critique of Judgment makes any of Burke's attempt on the same useless (no big shame, it is Kant, I guess). Burke's idea of beauty runs like a checklist. He only looks at constituents and comments hardly at all on the integration of those parts. Barely anything on the subjective either which is ridiculous in aesthetics...he acknowledges only subjective "sensibility" which is just degree of awareness of the checklist items. The work never goes any deeper. The reader can only hope to hit upon a departure point for his or her own aesthetic reflections at best.
Kant's treatment of the sublime in Critique of Judgment makes any of Burke's attempt on the same useless (no big shame, it is Kant, I guess). Burke's idea of beauty runs like a checklist. He only looks at constituents and comments hardly at all on the integration of those parts. Barely anything on the subjective either which is ridiculous in aesthetics...he acknowledges only subjective "sensibility" which is just degree of awareness of the checklist items. The work never goes any deeper. The reader can only hope to hit upon a departure point for his or her own aesthetic reflections at best.