Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful: Is there a Male Gaze in Empirical Aesthetics?
Open accessAbstract
In his ground-breaking Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, Edmund Burke (1757) presented a comprehensive aesthetic theory based on two types of aesthetic appreciation: the beautiful and the sublime. While beauty inspires us with tender feelings of affection, a thrill of delightful horror attracts us to the sublime. According to Burke these ideas originate in a drive for affiliation (beautiful) and a drive for self-preservation (sublime). He also claims that the sublime is generally the more powerful aesthetic experience. A synopsis of literature on gender differences in aesthetic preferences, personality traits, and social motivation suggests, however, that on average women might be less susceptible to the Burkeian sublime than men. We tested this hypothesis empirically using sixty picture details from a triptych by Hieronymus Bosch. One hundred and fifty participants rated these stimuli in terms of threat (respectively safety) and liking. Besides, they completed standardized scales for state and trait anxiety as well as for state and trait depression. We found a strong effect for gender: on average, safety and liking were more closely related for female than for male participants. In the light of these findings we state that Burke’s concepts of the beautiful and the sublime might in fact be confounded with gender-related aesthetic preferences and that his proclivity to the sublime could reflect a male gaze on aesthetics. Finally, we discuss possible indicators for ‘Burke’s fallacy’ in empirical aesthetics today.
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Still being checked.
- Authors
- Ortlieb, S. A., Fischer, U. C., & Carbon, C.-C.
- Affiliations
- University of Bamberg (DE)
- Venue
- Art and Perception
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2016-09-16
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 205-224
- ISSN
- 2213-4905 (ISSN-L)
- 2213-4913
- OpenAlex
- W2337280276
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 1.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Art & Perception (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Ethics, Aesthetics, and Art
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Art, Aesthetics, and Perception
- Keywords
- Edmund Burke, sublime, the beautiful, male gaze, aesthetic experience, anxiety, depression, Hieronymus Bosch, self-preservation
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