A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful by Edmund Burke explores the psychological and physiological basis of our perceptions of beauty and sublimity. Burke argues that beauty is associated with qualities that induce relaxation and pleasure in the senses, such as smoothness, smallness, and gradual variation. In contrast, he asserts that sublimity arises from experiences of pain, danger, and awe, often connected to ideas of power, vastness, and obscurity. Burke's work examines how these aesthetic categories are rooted in our sensory experiences and the ways in which they influence our emotional responses.