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2 Aesthetics,Ethics, and Politics I n a b o o k a d d r e s s i n g q u e s t i o n s of political and moral thought a discussion of aesthetics may seem to some a digression. Others know that aesthetics, ethics, and politics are intimately related. Burke’s sense of the inseparability of these aspects of human experience is evident from the body of his work. Today, it is quite commonplace for postmodern thinkers to emphasize the importance of language, narratives, and art. Burke’s understanding of their social and moral significance, though more compact, may be in some ways more insightful and useful than that of many contemporary thinkers, despite the fact that he operated without the benefit of a large, established body of philosophic thought in this area. Burke’s explicit aesthetic theory, set down in A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, provides important insights into his thinking about the workings of human knowledge, judgment, and ethics; this thinking in turn shapes his political and social thought. Indeed, it can be argued that study of the Enquiry is critical to developing a good understanding of Burke. For one thing, with the possible exception of A Vindication of Natural Society, a satire on the works of Bolingbroke that attempts to repudiate his rationalism and “natural religion,” the Enquiry is Burke’s only explicitly philosophical work. Although even this work cannot be considered to be philosophically rigorous, it is Burke’s only non-satirical work laid out in the form of a philosophical treatise, and it is about the only place in which Burke turns from political, rhetorical, 42 E d m u n d B u r k e f o r O u r T i m e and historical writing and openly explores philosophical questions from a relatively disinterested, scholarly standpoint. Despite its aesthetic focus, the Enquiry’s explicit treatment of philosophical questions offers important insights into the thinking behind Burke’s more philosophically compact political writings and speeches. Because it is a very early work, his thought is not fully developed in the Enquiry on the various themes addressed in this study; one cannot simply pick it up and find his mature epistemological and ethical views explicitly expounded. However, clearly evident in the work are certain directions of his thought, as well as certain philosophical concepts and areas of interest, which will help provide a grounding for his approach to morality and politics. Burke’s aesthetic thought is also a good place to begin because this is essentially where Burke himself began. The first edition of the Enquiry was published in 1757. While it was not Burke’s first published work, it is widely believed to be the work he started on first, when he was a student at Trinity College in Dublin in the late 1740s. Literary matters were the young Burke’s great love, and he had a keen interest in aesthetics and in rhetoric. Sent by his father to law school in England, Burke enjoyed the historical aspects of law but soon gave up on his studies to pursue a career as a writer. His later movement into political service appears to have been sparked at least in part by the fact that, for one without independent means, writing was hardly a practical career; this was especially true for Burke once he had a wife and child to support. For a while he attempted to pursue his government and writing careers simultaneously, but this caused frustration for both Burke and his employers. He soon gave up on nonpolitical writing, with the exception of paid writing and editorial work for the Annual Register, which he continued for several more years. Burke’s first publishing venture actually came very early, in his days at Trinity College, when with several friends he launched The Reformer, a citywide weekly devoted primarily to matters concerning the Dublin theater. This venture lasted several months, and the publication appears to have been popular, at least initially. The premier issue, 28 January 1748, addresses the question of why the periodical is devoted to the arts, rather than to weightier matters. It is explained to the reader that “the Morals of a Nation have so great Dependance [sic] on their Taste and Writings, that the fixing the latter, seems the first and surest Method of establishing the former.”1 From a young age Burke...

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