One of the points that Burke makes that caught my attention is where he compares pain and pleasure. He is talking about the power of the sublime and how the strength of it factors into whether pain or pleasure is a greater force. He says that some people might think that pain and pleasure are equal but, "we must remember that, that the idea of pain, in its highest degree, is much stronger than the highest degree of pleasure.." (602). At first I was confused of why plain was a stronger force, but Burke went on to describe that pain is stronger because "we never submit to pain willingly" (602). I can relate this to me own life because I am far more inclined to work hard on my homework it it will get me a better grade than if I did not. However if i was to get a decent grade without doing any work than I am less likely to put in all the effort to have the pleasure of getting a perfect grade. A human is far more likely to respond to the fear of pain rather than the satisfaction of pleasure.
Another one of Burkes points that appealed to me was when he talked about the best way of communicating an idea. He wrote about how painting allows the visual component of the idea to be clear, but painting only allows you to give your imitation on something that is real. Writing however "...raises a very obscure and imperfect idea of such objects; but then it is in my power to raise a stronger emotion by the description than I could do by anything in the best painting" (600). Burke is saying that no matter how beautiful a painting is, reading a description about it will evoke a stronger emotional reaction than just looking at a painting. This made me think about the limits of communication and the difficulty of communicating an idea. I thought of the short story "The Minister's Black Veil" by Nathaniel Hawthorne after I read this section. In the short story Hawthorne makes the point that humans can never truly know each other, but they can acknowledge this which allows people to become closer. Going back to "A Philosophical Enquiry" the concept of communicating an idea is the most difficult thing to do because it is impossible to actually communicate to someone else an idea that you have because another person can never get into your head and think the same way.
I enjoyed reading Burke and I agreed with many of the things the said, but I know there is more to this piece that I did not pick up on.
-Daniel Pietaro
This work was so incredibly interesting to read. It is natural for people to draw comparisons between pain and pleasure. However, I never thought to wonder which one is a more powerful force. Burke does a great job of describing his reasoning. No one willingly wants to submit themsleves to pain, yet people strive for pleasure. Also, even the thought of pain can be miserable. Before even feeling pain you can obsess yourself with the idea of it. However, pleasure is something to work towards and strive for. You explained his idea well when you said, “A human is far more likely to respond to the fear of pain rather than the satisfaction of pleasure.” I agree with this completely. Fear is much more of a driving emotion than pleasure. I also enjoyed his debate between artwork and words as a means of communication. I think he best explained this idea when he spoke about devils and images we have never really seen. He explains that we only have an idea in our heads of what these objects look like, so we can only paint them in one way. However by writing about them, we can link series of words and images together to create a much stronger image in our heads. His discussion gave me a much fonder opinion of poetry and it’s effects on creating images in the minds of the reader. I also really enjoyed “A Philosophical Inquiry” and believe there is much more to discuss in class.
ReplyDeleteI was also really interested by Burke's comparison of pain and pleasure. I feel like a big part of the reason pain is regarded as having a greater affect than pleasure is that, because we don't typically willingly submit ourselves to painful experiences, they take us by surprise, and, because of this, the effect is much greater than it would have been if we had planned to have this experience. This comparison makes me think of surprise parties, or of any sort of pleasant surprise we encounter. Is this experience, then, just as great and as powerful as a painful experience? Or is it our natural disposition that causes us to dwell on negative experiences more than we rejoice and revel in positive ones? Interesting to think about.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Burke’s discussion of pain versus pleasure and found that his comparison of the two made a lot of sense in regard to how I live my life (at least in regard to my interpretation of his explanation). Burke discusses pain as being a stronger force than pleasure. His reasoning for is this is because “we never submit to pain willingly” (602). I believe that pain is a stronger force because, though we may never submit to pain willingly, there is an amount of thrill that comes with submitting ourselves to attain the rush that may come along with pain. We may not want to experience pain that may ensue in any given situation, but there is a reason people live dangerously. Living a more risky lifestyle, with the impending chance to experience pain is what in fact may cause someone pleasure. The path to reach such a feeling of pleasure is not always a smooth trip. There are obstacles to overcome and fights to be settled. If such barriers are conquered than that may lead to greater satisfaction and therefore greater amounts of pleasure. So, with this, I agree that pain is a stronger force, for it is the building blocks of pleasure.
ReplyDeleteDaniel, I agree with a lot of the points you made about Burke’s piece and after reading it I also was interested in the bit about pain versus pleasure. It is sort of a depressing thought that although pleasure is a more enjoyable feeling to experience, pain has a bigger effect on us because it is not a chosen emotion. With pleasure, we tend to seek it out and try to obtain and feel it but pain is not something one normally chooses or submits to, making it is more powerful and sublime.
ReplyDeleteAs for comparing communication via paintings or text, this reminds me of the modern day debate about whether movies or books are better. Personally, I think literature is a much more vivid and palpable way to represent an idea or object because it allows to you create your own image in your head that can transform and grow as the novel progresses. With movies or paintings, you are only given what the movie director or artist has presented you with and is less rewarding.
I think that Burke explores a lot of really interesting topics and ideas and I liked that he makes his reader think about more than what’s on the surface and encourages them to dig deeper . -Megan Harpel