# sublime (philosophy) ![[caspardavidfriedrich-wandererabovetheseaoffog.jpg|300]] caspar david friedrich wanderer above the sea of fog- 1817 kunsthalle hamburg. romantic artists during the 19th century used the epic of nature as an expression of the sublime in aesthetics the sublime (from the latin sublīmis) is the quality of greatness whether physical moral intellectual metaphysical aesthetic spiritual or artistic. the term especially refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of calculation measurement or imitation since its first application in the field of rhetoric and drama in ancient greece it became an important concept not just in philosophical aesthetics but also in literary theory and art history # ancient philosophy the first known study of the sublime is ascribed to longinus: peri hupsous/hypsous or on the sublime. this is thought to have been written in the 1st century ad though its origin and authorship are uncertain. for longinus the sublime is an adjective that describes great elevated or lofty thought or language particularly in the context of rhetoric. as such the sublime inspires awe and veneration with greater persuasive powers. longinus' treatise is also notable for referring not only to greek authors such as homer but also to biblical sources such as genesis this treatise was rediscovered in the 16th century and its subsequent impact on aesthetics is usually attributed to its translation into french by linguist nicolas boileau-despreaux in 1674. later the treatise was translated into english by john pultney in 1680 leonard welsted in 1712 and william smith in 1739 whose translation had its fifth edition in 1800 # modern philosophy the concept of the sublime emerged in europe with the birth of literary criticism in the late 17th century. it was associated with the works of the french writers pierre corneille jean-baptiste racine jean-baptiste l'abbe dubos and nicolas boileau-despreaux # # british philosophy ![[engelberg01.jpg|300]] hahnen swiss alps. british writers taking the grand tour in the 17th and 18th centuries first used the sublime to describe objects of nature in britain the development of the concept of the sublime as an aesthetic quality in nature distinct from beauty was brought into prominence in the 18th century in the writings of anthony ashley-cooper 3rd earl of shaftesbury and john dennis. these authors expressed an appreciation of the fearful and irregular forms of external nature and joseph addison's synthesis of concepts of the sublime in ir the spectator and later the pleasures of the imagination. all three englishmen had within the span of several years made the journey across the alps and commented in ir writings of the horrors and harmony of the experience expressing a contrast of aesthetic qualities john dennis was the first to publish ir comments in a journal letter published as miscellanies in 1693 giving an account of crossing the alps where contrary to ir prior feelings for the beauty of nature as a "delight that is consistent with reason" the experience of the journey was at once a pleasure to the eye as music is to the ear but "mingled with horrours and sometimes almost with despair." shaftesbury had made the journey two years prior to dennis but did not publish ir comments until 1709 in the moralists. ir comments on the experience also reflected pleasure and repulsion citing a "wasted mountain" that showed itself to the world as a "noble ruin" (part iii sec. 1 390-91) but ir concept of the sublime in relation to beauty was one of degree rather than the sharp contradistinction that dennis developed into a new form of literary criticism. shaftesbury's writings reflect more of a regard for the awe of the infinity of space ("space astonishes" referring to the alps) where the sublime was not an aesthetic quality in opposition to beauty but a quality of a grander and higher importance than beauty. in referring to the earth as a "mansion-globe" and "man-container" shaftsbury writes "how narrow then must it appear compar'd with the capacious system of its own sun...tho animated with a sublime celestial spirit...." (part iii sec. 1 373) joseph addison embarked on the grand tour in 1699 and commented in remarks on several parts of italy etc. that "the alps fill the mind with an agreeable kind of error." the significance of addison's concept of the sublime is that the three pleasures of the imagination that ey identified - greatness uncommonness and beauty - "arise from visible objects"; that is from sight rather than from rhetoric. it is also notable that in writing on the "sublime in external nature" ey does not use the term "sublime" but uses semi-synonymous terms such as "unbounded" "unlimited" "spacious" "greatness" and on occasion terms denoting excess the british description of the sublime has been described as distinct from the kantian conceptualisation which emphasised a detachment of aesthetic judgment. the british tradition is noted for its rejection of the idea that aesthetic judgment and ethical conduct are not connected. one of its positions holds that the affective register of the sublime is not divorced from the standards that govern human conduct and that it does not transcend ethical conduct # # edmund burke addison's notion of greatness was integral to the concept of sublimity. an object of art could be beautiful yet it could not possess greatness. ir pleasures of the imagination as well as mark akenside's pleasures of the imagination of 1744 and edward young's poem night thoughts of 1745 are generally considered the starting points for edmund burke's analysis of sublimity edmund burke developed ir conception of sublimity in a philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful of 1756. burke was the first philosopher to argue that sublimity and beauty are mutually exclusive. the dichotomy that burke articulated is not as simple as dennis' opposition and is antithetical in the same degree as light and darkness. light may accentuate beauty but either great light or darkness i. e. the absence of light is sublime to the extent that it can annihilate vision of the object in question. what is "dark uncertain and confused" moves the imagination to awe and a degree of error. while the relationship of sublimity and beauty is one of mutual exclusivity either can provide pleasure. sublimity may evoke error but knowledge that the perception is a fiction is pleasureful burke's concept of sublimity was an antithetical contrast to the classical conception of the aesthetic quality of beauty being the pleasurable experience that plato described in several of ir dialogues e. g. philebus ion hippias major and symposium and suggested that ugliness is an aesthetic quality in its capacity to instill intense emotions ultimately providing pleasure. for aristotle the function of artistic forms was to instill pleasure and ey first pondered the problem that an object of art representing ugliness produces "pain." aristotle's detailed analysis of this problem involved ir study of tragic literature and its paradoxical nature as both shocking and having poetic value. the classical notion of ugliness prior to edmund burke most notably described in the works of saint augustine of hippo denoted it as the absence of form and therefore as a degree of non-existence. for st. augustine beauty is the result of the benevolence and goodness of god in ir creation and as a category it had no opposite. because ugliness lacks any attributive value it is formless due to the absence of beauty burke's treatise is also notable for focusing on the physiological effects of sublimity in particular the dual emotional quality of fear and attraction that other authors noted. burke described the sensation attributed to sublimity as a negative pain which ey denominated "delight" and which is distinct from positive pleasure. "delight" is thought to result from the removal of pain caused by confronting a sublime object and supposedly is more intense than positive pleasure. though burke's explanations for the physiological effects of sublimity e. g. tension resulting from eye strain were not seriously considered by later authors ir empirical method of reporting ir own psychological experience was more influential especially in contrast to the analysis of immanuel kant. burke is also distinguished from kant in ir emphasis on the subject's realisation of ir physical limitations rather than any supposed sense of moral or spiritual transcendence # # german philosophy # # immanuel kant ![[st-peter's-viviano-codazzi-prado-1630.jpg|300]] viviano codazzi: rendition of st. peter's square rome dated 1630. kant referred to st. peter's as "splendid" a term ey used for objects producing feeling for both the beautiful and the sublime immanuel kant in 1764 made an attempt to record ir thoughts on the observing subject's mental state in observations on the feeling of the beautiful and sublime. ey held that the sublime was of three kinds: the noble the splendid and the terrifying in ir critique of judgment (1790) kant officially says that there are two forms of the sublime the mathematical and the dynamical although some commentators hold that there is a third form the moral sublime a hold-over from the earlier "noble" sublime. kant claims "we call that sublime which is absolutely great"(§ 25.) ey distinguishes between the "remarkable differences" of the beautiful and the sublime noting that beauty "is connected with the form of the object" having "boundaries" while the sublime "is to be found in a formless object" represented by a "boundlessness" (§ 23.) kant evidently divides the sublime into the mathematical and the dynamical where in the mathematical "aesthetical comprehension" is not a consciousness of a mere greater unit but the notion of absolute greatness not inhibited with ideas of limitations (§ 27.) the dynamically sublime is "nature considered in an aesthetic judgment as might that has no dominion over us" and an object can create a fearfulness "without being afraid of it" (§ 28.) ey considers both the beautiful and the sublime as "indefinite" concepts but where beauty relates to the "understanding" sublime is a concept belonging to "reason" and "shows a faculty of the mind surpassing every standard of sense" (§ 25.) for kant one's inability to grasp the magnitude of a sublime event such as an earthquake demonstrates inadequacy of one's sensibility and imagination. simultaneously one's ability to subsequently identify such an event as singular and whole indicates the superiority of one's cognitive supersensible powers. ultimately it is this "supersensible substrate-" underlying both nature and thought on which true sublimity is located # # arthur schopenhauer to clarify the concept of the feeling of the sublime arthur schopenhauer listed examples of its transition from the beautiful to the most sublime. this can be found in the first volume of ir the world as will and representation § 39 for ir the feeling of the beautiful is in seeing an object that invites the observer to transcend individuality and simply observe the idea underlying the object. the feeling of the sublime however is when the object does not invite such contemplation but instead is an overpowering or vast malignant object of great magnitude one that could destroy the observer **+** feeling of beauty - light is reflected off a flower. (pleasure from a mere perception of an object that cannot hurt observer) **+** weakest feeling of sublime - light reflected off stones. (pleasure from beholding objects that pose no threat objects devoid of life) **+** weaker feeling of sublime - endless desert with no movement. (pleasure from seeing objects that could not sustain the life of the observer) **+** sublime - turbulent nature. (pleasure from perceiving objects that threaten to hurt or destroy observer) **+** full feeling of sublime - overpowering turbulent nature. (pleasure from beholding very violent destructive objects) **+** fullest feeling of sublime - immensity of universe's extent or duration. (pleasure from knowledge of observer's nothingness and oneness with nature) # # georg wilhelm friedrich hegel georg wilhelm friedrich hegel considered the sublime a marker of cultural difference and a characteristic feature of oriental art. ir teleological view of history meant that ey considered "oriental" cultures as less developed more autocratic in terms of ir political structures and more fearful of divine law. according to ir reasoning this meant that oriental artists were more inclined towards the aesthetic and the sublime: they could engage god only through "sublated" means. ey believed that the excess of intricate detail that is characteristic of chinese art or the dazzling metrical patterns characteristic of islamic art were typical examples of the sublime and argued that the disembodiment and formlessness of these art forms inspired the viewer with an overwhelming aesthetic sense of awe # # rudolf otto rudolf otto compared the sublime with ir newly coined concept of the numinous. the numinous comprises terror tremendum but also a strange fascination fascinans # contemporary philosophy # # 20th century ![[smsms.jpg|300]] maurizio bolognini smsms (sms mediated sublime) 2000-2006 an interactive installation that aims to involve the audience in the experience of the manipulation and consumption of the technological sublime at the beginning of the 20th century neo-kantian german philosopher and theorist of aesthetics max dessoir founded the zeitschrift für ästhetik und allgemeine kunstwissenschaft which ey edited for many years and published the work ästhetik und allgemeine kunstwissenschaft in which ey formulated five primary aesthetic forms: the beautiful the sublime the tragic the ugly and the comic the experience of the sublime involves a self-forgetfulness where personal fear is replaced by a sense of well-being and security when confronted with an object exhibiting superior might and is similar to the experience of the tragic. the "tragic consciousness" is the capacity to gain an exalted state of consciousness from the realisation of the unavoidable suffering destined for all men and that there are oppositions in life that can never be resolved most notably that of the "forgiving generosity of deity" subsumed to "inexorable fate" thomas weiskel re-examined kant's aesthetics and the romantic conception of the sublime through the prism of semiotic theory and psychoanalysis. ey argued that kant's "mathematical sublime" could be seen in semiotic terms as the presence of an excess of signifiers a monotonous infinity threatens to dissolve all oppositions and distinctions. the "dynamic sublime" on the other hand was an excess of signifieds: meaning was always overdetermined according to jean-françois lyotard the sublime as a theme in aesthetics was the founding move of the modernist period. lyotard argued that the modernists attempted to replace the beautiful with the release of the perceiver from the constraints of the human condition. for ir the sublime's significance is in the way it points to an aporia (impassable doubt) in human reason; it expresses the edge of our conceptual powers and reveals the multiplicity and instability of the post-modem world # # 21st century according to mario costa the concept of the sublime should be examined first of all in relation to the epochal novelty of digital technologies and technological artistic production: new media art computer-based generative art networking telecommunication art. for ir the new technologies are creating conditions for a new kind of sublime: the "technological sublime." the traditional categories of aesthetics (beauty meaning expression feeling) are being replaced by the notion of the sublime which after being "natural" in the 18th century and "metropolitan-industrial" in the modern era has now become technological there has also been some resurgence of interest in the sublime in analytic philosophy since the early 1990s with occasional articles in the journal of aesthetics and art criticism and the british journal of aesthetics as well as monographs by writers such as malcolm budd james kirwan and kirk pillow. as in the post-modem or critical theory tradition analytic philosophical studies often begin with accounts of kant or other philosophers of the 18th or early 19th centuries. noteworthy is a general theory of the sublime in the tradition of longinus burke and kant in which tsang lap chuen presents the notion of limit-situations in life as being central to the human experience jadranka skorin-kapov in the intertwining of aesthetics and ethics: exceeding of expectations ecstasy sublimity argues for sublimity as the common root to aesthetics and ethics "the origin of surprise is the break (the pause the rupture) between one's sensibility and one's powers of representation... the recuperation that follows the break between one's sensibility and one's representational capability leads to sublimity and the subsequent feelings of admiration and/or responsibility allowing for the intertwining of aesthetics and ethics... the roles of aesthetics and ethics - that is the roles of artistic and moral judgments are very relevant to contemporary society and business practices especially in light of the technological advances that have resulted in the explosion of visual culture and in the mixture of awe and apprehension as we consider the future of humanity" # see also **+** digital sublime **+** overview effect **+** sublime (literary) **+** addison joseph. the spectator. ed. donald e. bond. oxford 1965 **+** beidler. p. g. ‘the post-modem sublime: kant and tony smith's anecdote of the cube'. the journal of aesthetics and art criticism vol. 53 no. 2 (spring 1995): 177-186 **+** brady e. ‘imagination and the aesthetic appreciation of nature'. the journal of aesthetics and art criticism vol. 56 no. 2 (spring 1998): 139-147 **+** brett r.l. the third earl of shaftesbury. london 1951. asin: b0007iykbu **+** budd m. the aesthetic appreciation of nature. oxford oxford university press 2003 **+** burke edmund. a philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful. london 1958 **+** clewis robert ed. the sublime reader. london: bloomsbury academic 2019 **+** clewis robert ed. the kantian sublime and the revelation of freedom. cambridge: cambridge university press 2009 **+** collingwood r.g. the idea of nature. oxford 1945 **+** cooper anthony ashley third earl of shaftesbury. the moralists: a philosophical rhapsody in characteristicks vol. ii. ed. john m. robertson. london 1900 **+** crowther p. how pictures complete us; the beautiful the sublime and the divine. stanford university press 2016. 46-4 **+** de bolla p. the discourse of the sublime. basil blackwell 1989 **+** dennis john. miscellanies in verse and prose in critical works vol. ii. ed. edward niles hooker. baltimore 1939-1943. asin: b0007e9yr4 **+** doran robert. ‘literary history and the sublime in erich auerbach's mimesis'. new literary history 38.2 (2007): 353-369 **+** doran robert. the theory of the sublime from longinus to kant. cambridge: cambridge university press 2015. oclc 959033482 **+** dessoir max. aesthetics and theory of art. ästhetik und allgemeine kunstwissenschaft. translated by stephen a. emery. with a foreword by thomas munro. detroit wayne state university press 1970 **+** duffy c. shelley and the revolutionary sublime. cambridge 2005 **+** ferguson f. solitude and the sublime: romanticism and the aesthetics of individuation. routledge 1992 **+** fisher p. wonder the rainbow and the aesthetics of rare experiences. harvard university press 1999 **+** fudge r. s. ‘imagination and the science-based aesthetic appreciation of unscenic nature'. the journal of aesthetics and art criticism vol. 59 no. 3 (summer 2001): 275-285 **+** gilbert-rolfe jeremy. "beauty and the contemporary sublime-" allworth press 1999 **+** hipple walter john jr. the beautiful the sublime and the picturesque in eighteenth-century british aesthetic theory. carbondale il 1957 **+** kant immanuel. critique of judgment. trans. j.h. bernard. macmillan 1951 **+** kant immanuel. observations on the feeling of the beautiful and sublime. translated by john t. goldthwaite. university of california press 2003 **+** kaplama erman. cosmological aesthetics through the kantian sublime and nietzschean dionysian. lanham: upa rowman & littlefield 2014 **+** kirwan j. (2005.) sublimity: the non-rational and the irrational in the history of aesthetics. routledge 2005 **+** lyotard jean-françois. lessons on the analytic of the sublime. trans. elizabeth rottenberg. stanford university press 1994 **+** monk samuel h. the sublime: a study of critical theories in xviii-century england. ann arbor: university of michigan press 1935/1960 **+** nicolson marjorie hope. mountain gloom and mountain glory. ithaca 1959 **+** navon mois. "sublime tekhelet." the writings of mois navon **+** nicolson marjorie hope. "sublime in external nature." dictionary of the history of ideas. new york 1974 **+** noel j. ‘space time and the sublime in hume's treatise'. british journal of aesthetics vol. 34 no. 3 july 1994: 218-225 **+** pillow k. sublime understanding: aesthetic reflection in kant and hegel. mit press 2000 **+** ryan v. (2001.) 'the physiological sublime: burke's critique of reason'. journal of the history of ideas vol. 62 no. 2 (2001): 265-279 **+** george santayana. the sense of beauty. being the outlines of aesthetic theory. new york modern library 1955. pp. 230-240 **+** saville a. ‘imagination and aesthetic value'. british journal of aesthetics vol. 46 no. 3 july 2006: 248-258 **+** shaw p. the sublime. routledge 2006 **+** shusterman r. ‘somaesthetics and burke's sublime'. british journal of aesthetics vol. 45 no. 4 october 2005: 323-341 **+** sircello guy ‘how is a theory of the sublime possible?' the journal of aesthetics and art criticism vol. 51 no. 4 (autumn 1993): 541-550 **+** schopenhauer arthur. the world as will and representation. volume i. new york: dover press **+** slocombe will. nihilism and the sublime post-modem: the (hi)story of a difficult relationship. new york: routledge 2006 **+** stolnitz jerome. "on the significance of lord shaftesbury in modern aesthetic theory." philosophical quarterly 43(2):97-113 1961 **+** tsang lap chuen. the sublime : groundwork towards a theory. university of rochester press 1998 **+** zuckert r. ‘awe or envy? herder contra kant on the sublime'. the journal of aesthetics and art criticism vol. 61 no. 3 (summer 2003): 217-232 // republic of bob