The Sublime
Aesthetic concept of experiences that transcend ordinary beauty through vastness or power. Burke distinguished beautiful (small, smooth) from sublime (vast, terrible). Kant analyzed sublime as mathematical (vastness) and dynamic (power). The sublime involves pleasure mixed with terror or awe. Nature's grandeur—mountains, storms, stars—evokes sublime. Art can invoke sublime through scale or intensity. The concept influenced Romanticism and contemporary aesthetics. Sublime confronts us with our limits and transcendence.
Your Reaction
Similar Philosophical Concept
The Spectacle
Situationist concept of social relations mediated by images. Debord: spectacle is not collection of images …
The Tao
Central concept in Taoism representing the fundamental nature of the universe. The Tao is ineffable—it …
Idealism
Metaphysical view that reality is fundamentally mental or experiential. Berkeley's subjective idealism: to be is …
Consciousness
The subjective quality of experience—what it's like to be something. Phenomenal consciousness is qualitative experience …
Yin and Yang
Chinese philosophical concept of complementary opposites in constant dynamic balance. Yin represents feminine, dark, passive, …
Panpsychism
View that consciousness or mind-like qualities are fundamental and ubiquitous in nature. All matter has …
Nirvana
Buddhist concept of the cessation of suffering and liberation from samsara. Nirvana literally means blowing …
Existentialism
Philosophical movement emphasizing individual existence, freedom, and choice. Existentialism asserts that existence precedes essence—humans create …
Explore Related Domains
Discover connections across different types of entities
Critique of Pure Reason
Kant's foundational work establishes limits of human knowledge and synthetic a priori judgments. Through transcendental …
Arthur Schopenhauer
German philosopher who developed a metaphysical system centered on the concept of Will. Schopenhauer's pessimistic …
The Garden
Ernst's dense jungle landscape created through frottage and grattage techniques suggests primordial nature and unconscious …
The Garden of Earthly Delights
Bosch's enigmatic triptych depicts paradise, earthly pleasures, and hell in vivid surreal imagery. The work …
The Divine Comedy
Dante's epic poem chronicles the poet's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, guided by Virgil …
The Great Beauty
Sorrentino's visual feast follows an aging writer through Rome's decadent high society. Through beauty, aging, …
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher who challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional morality. Known for concepts like …
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher who challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional morality. Known for concepts like …