Kantian Sublimity and Supersensible Comfort: A Case for the Mathematical Sublime

Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics 43 (2):24-34 (2020)
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Abstract

Immanuel Kant’s work on the sublimity of aesthetic experience lends itself to puzzlement, if not misclassification. Complicating matters, Kant distinguishes between two kinds of sublimity: respectively, the “mathematical” and “dynamical” sublime. More mystifying is that the sublime is ineffable, beyond the ken of human comprehension. These perplexities notwithstanding, Kant argues that sublime sentiment produces a feeling of supersensible comfort. Commentators identify this comfort emanating most strongly from the dynamical sublime. However, in this paper I draw from the unity of reason thesis to offer a plausible account of how the mathematical sublime is equally capable of providing the same feeling of supersensible comfort.

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José Luis Fernández
Fairfield University

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