Beautiful > Intro
In his famous 1758 treatise, Edmund Burke defines Beauty as “a
name I shall apply to all such qualities in things as induce in us
a sense of affection and tenderness, or some other passion most nearly
resembling these…It is not by the force of long attention
and enquiry that we find any object to be beautiful; beauty demands
no assistance from our reasoning; even the will is unconcerned; the
appearance of beauty as effectually causes some degree of love in
us, as the application of ice or fire produces the ideas of heat
or cold.” Burke says that the Beautiful appeals to us immediately
and emotionally. Softness, sweetness, charm, and delicate sounds
are associated with Beauty. Burke also believed that the Beautiful
lacked energy and vitality compared to the Sublime, and was restful
to contemplate.
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