The Sublime Government and the Friendly Government. A Cross between the Aesthetic and Political Theory in the Work of Edmund Burke

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between aesthetic and political ideas in the work of Edmund Burke. This analysis sheds some light on a number of questions. First, the relevance of his reflections about the beautiful and the sublime for the political theory, an aspect which is usually underestimated by his commentators. Second, the assertion that the idea of the sublime is an essential characteristic of every political government and third, the distinction between moderate and despotic governments based on the aesthetic differences observable in the English constitutional monarchy and the National Revolutionary Assembly of 1789. The conclusions highlight the necessary and reciprocal dependence of both disciplines to better understand the thought of the Irish author.