has something in it repugnant to taste; for our entertainment in
the contemplation of it lasts for no length of time, but it rather,
in so far as it has not expressly in view cognition or a definite
practical purpose, produces weariness. On the other hand that with
which Imagination can play in an unstudied and purposive manner
is always new to us, and one does not get tired of looking at it.
_Marsden_ in his description of Sumatra makes the remark that the
free beauties of nature surround the spectator everywhere and thus
lose their attraction for him.[41] On the other hand a pepper-garden,
where the stakes on which this plant twines itself form parallel rows,
had much attractiveness for him, if he met with it in the middle of a
forest. And hence he infers that wild beauty, apparently irregular,
only pleases as a variation from the regular beauty of which one has
seen enough. But he need only have made the experiment of spending
one day in a pepper-garden, to have been convinced that, once the
Understanding, by the aid of this regularity, has put itself in accord
with the order that it always needs, the object will not entertain for
long,--nay rather it will impose a burdensome constraint upon the
Imagination. On the other hand, nature, which there is prodigal in
its variety even to luxuriance, that is subjected to no constraint of
artificial rules, can supply constant food for taste.--Even the song
of birds, which we can bring under no musical rule, seems to have more
freedom, and therefore more for taste, than a song of a human being
which is produced in accordance with all the rules of music; for we
very much sooner weary of the latter, if it is repeated often and at
length. Here, however, we probably confuse our participation in the
mirth of a little creature that we love, with the beauty of its song;
for if this were exactly imitated by man (as sometimes the notes of the
nightingale are)[42] it would seem to our ear quite devoid of taste.
Again, beautiful objects are to be distinguished from beautiful
views of objects (which often on account of their distance cannot be
clearly recognised). In the latter case taste appears not so much in
what the Imagination _apprehends_ in this field, as in the impulse it
thus gets to _fiction_, _i.e._ in the peculiar fancies with which the
mind entertains itself, whilst it is continually being aroused by the
variety which strikes the eye. An illustration is afforded, _e.g._
by the sight of the changing shapes of a fire on the hearth or of a
rippling brook; neither of these has beauty, but they bring with them a
charm for the Imagination, because they entertain it in free play.
SECOND BOOK
ANALYTIC OF THE SUBLIME
§ 23. _Transition from the faculty which judges of the Beautiful to
that which judges of the Sublime_
The Beautiful and the Sublime agree in this, that both please in
themselves. Further, neither presupposes a judgement of sense nor
a judgement logically determined, but a judgement of reflection.
Consequently the satisfaction [belonging to them] does not depend
on a sensation, as in the case of the Pleasant, nor on a definite
concept, as in the case of the Good; but it is nevertheless referred
to concepts although indeterminate ones. And so the satisfaction is
connected with the mere presentation [of the object] or with the
faculty of presentation; so that in the case of a given intuition this
faculty or the Imagination is considered as in agreement with the
_faculty of concepts_ of Understanding or Reason (in its furtherance of
these latter). Hence both kinds of judgements are _singular_, and yet
announce themselves as universally valid for every subject; although
they lay claim merely to the feeling of pleasure and not to any
knowledge of the object.
But there are also remarkable differences between the two. The
Beautiful in nature is connected with the form of the object, which
consists in having boundaries. The Sublime, on the other hand, is to
be found in a formless object, so far as in it or by occasion of it
_boundlessness_ is represented, and yet its totality is also present to
thought. Thus the Beautiful seems to be regarded as the presentation
of an indefinite concept of Understanding; the Sublime as that of a
like concept of Reason. Therefore the satisfaction in the one case is
bound up with the representation of _quality_, in the other with that
of _quantity_. And the latter satisfaction is quite different in kind
from the former, for this [the Beautiful[43]] directly brings with
it a feeling of the furtherance of life, and thus is compatible with
charms and with the play of the Imagination. But the other [the feeling
of the Sublime[43]] is a pleasure that arises only indirectly; viz.
it is produced by the feeling of a momentary checking of the vital
powers and a consequent stronger outflow of them, so that it seems to
be regarded as emotion,--not play, but earnest in the exercise of the
Imagination.--Hence it is incompatible with charms; and as the mind
is not merely attracted by the object but is ever being alternately
repelled, the satisfaction in the sublime does not so much involve a
positive pleasure as admiration or respect, which rather deserves to be
called negative pleasure.
But the inner and most important distinction between the Sublime
and Beautiful is, certainly, as follows. (Here, as we are entitled
to do, we only bring under consideration in the first instance the
sublime in natural Objects; for the sublime of Art is always limited
by the conditions of agreement with Nature.) Natural beauty (which is
self-subsisting) brings with it a purposiveness in its form by which
the object seems to be, as it were, pre-adapted to our Judgement, and
thus constitutes in itself an object of satisfaction. On the other
hand, that which excites in us, without any reasoning about it, but in
the mere apprehension of it, the feeling of the sublime, may appear as
regards its form to violate purpose in respect of the Judgement, to be
unsuited to our presentative faculty, and, as it were, to do violence
to the Imagination; and yet it is judged to be only the more sublime.
Now from this we may see that in general we express ourselves
incorrectly if we call any _object of nature_ sublime, although we can
quite correctly call many objects of nature beautiful. For how can that
be marked by an expression of approval, which is apprehended in itself
as being a violation of purpose? All that we can say is that the object
is fit for the presentation of a sublimity which can be found in the
mind; for no sensible form can contain the sublime properly so-called.
This concerns only Ideas of the Reason, which, although no adequate
presentation is possible for them, by this inadequacy that admits of
sensible presentation, are aroused and summoned into the mind. Thus the
wide ocean, agitated by the storm, cannot be called sublime. Its aspect
is horrible; and the mind must be already filled with manifold Ideas
if it is to be determined by such an intuition to a feeling itself
sublime, as it is incited to abandon sensibility and to busy itself
with Ideas that involve higher purposiveness.
Self-subsisting natural beauty discovers to us a Technic of nature,
which represents it as a system in accordance with laws, the principle
of which we do not find in the whole of our faculty of Understanding.
That principle is the principle of purposiveness, in respect of the use
of our Judgement in regard to phenomena; [which requires] that these
must not be judged as merely belonging to nature in its purposeless
mechanism, but also as belonging to something analogous to art. It,
therefore, actually extends, not indeed our cognition of natural
Objects, but our concept of nature; [which is now not regarded] as
mere mechanism but as art. This leads to profound investigations as to
the possibility of such a form. But in what we are accustomed to call
sublime there is nothing at all that leads to particular objective
principles and forms of nature corresponding to them; so far from it
that for the most part nature excites the Ideas of the sublime in its
chaos or in its wildest and most irregular disorder and desolation,
provided size and might are perceived. Hence, we see that the concept
of the Sublime is not nearly so important or rich in consequences
as the concept of the Beautiful; and that in general it displays
nothing purposive in nature itself, but only in that possible use of
our intuitions of it by which there is produced in us a feeling of
a purposiveness quite independent of nature. We must seek a ground
external to ourselves for the Beautiful of nature; but seek it for
the Sublime merely in ourselves and in our attitude of thought which
introduces sublimity into the representation of nature. This is a
very needful preliminary remark, which quite separates the Ideas of
the sublime from that of a purposiveness of _nature_, and makes the
theory of the sublime a mere appendix to the aesthetical judging of
that purposiveness; because by means of it no particular form is
represented in nature, but there is only developed a purposive use
which the Imagination makes of its representation.
§ 24. _Of the divisions of an investigation into the feeling of the
sublime_
As regards the division of the moments of the aesthetical judging of
objects in reference to the feeling of the sublime, the Analytic can
proceed according to the same principle as was adapted in the analysis
of judgements of taste. For as an act of the aesthetical reflective
Judgement, the satisfaction in the Sublime must be represented just as
in the case of the Beautiful,--according to _quantity_ as universally
valid, according to _quality_ as devoid of _interest_, according to
_relation_ as subjective purposiveness, and according to _modality_ as
necessary. And so the method here will not diverge from that of the
preceding section; unless, indeed, we count it a difference that in
the case where the aesthetical Judgement is concerned with the form of
the Object we began with the investigation of its quality, but here,
in view of the formlessness which may belong to what we call sublime,
we shall begin with quantity, as the first moment of the aesthetical
judgement as to the sublime. The reason for this may be seen from the
preceding paragraph.
But the analysis of the Sublime involves a division not needed in the
case of the Beautiful, viz. a division into the _mathematically_ and
the _dynamically sublime_.
For the feeling of the Sublime brings with it as its characteristic
feature a _movement_ of the mind bound up with the judging of the
object, while in the case of the Beautiful taste presupposes and
maintains the mind in _restful_ contemplation. Now this movement
ought to be judged as subjectively purposive (because the sublime
pleases us), and thus it is referred through the Imagination either
to the _faculty of cognition_ or of _desire_. In either reference
the purposiveness of the given representation ought to be judged
only in respect of this _faculty_ (without purpose or interest); but
in the first case it is ascribed to the Object as a _mathematical_
determination of the Imagination, in the second as _dynamical_. And
hence we have this twofold way of representing the sublime.
A.--OF THE MATHEMATICALLY SUBLIME
§ 25. _Explanation of the term “sublime”_
We call that _sublime_ which is _absolutely great_. But to be great,
and to be a great something are quite different concepts (_magnitudo_
and _quantitas_). In like manner to _say simply_ (_simpliciter_)
that anything is _great_ is quite different from saying that it is
_absolutely great_ (_absolute, non comparative magnum_). The latter
is _what is great beyond all comparison_.--What now is meant by the
expression that anything is great or small or of medium size? It is not
a pure concept of Understanding that is thus signified; still less is
it an intuition of Sense, and just as little is it a concept of Reason,
because it brings with it no principle of cognition. It must therefore
be a concept of Judgement or derived from one; and a subjective
purposiveness of the representation in reference to the Judgement must
lie at its basis. That anything is a magnitude (_quantum_) may be
cognised from the thing itself, without any comparison of it with other
things; viz. if there is a multiplicity of the homogeneous constituting
one thing. But to cognise _how great_ it is always requires some other
magnitude as a measure. But because the judging of magnitude depends
not merely on multiplicity (number), but also on the magnitude of the
unit (the measure), and since, to judge of the magnitude of this latter
again requires another as measure with which it may be compared, we
see that the determination of the magnitude of phenomena can supply no
absolute concept whatever of magnitude, but only a comparative one.
If now I say simply that anything is great, it appears that I have no
comparison in view, at least none with an objective measure; because
it is thus not determined at all how great the object is. But although
the standard of comparison is merely subjective, yet the judgement none
the less claims universal assent; “this man is beautiful,” and “he is
tall,” are judgements not limited merely to the judging subject, but,
like theoretical judgements, demanding the assent of every one.
In a judgement by which anything is designated simply as great, it
is not merely meant that the object has a magnitude, but that this
magnitude is superior to that of many other objects of the same kind,
without, however, any exact determination of this superiority. Thus
there is always at the basis of our judgement a standard which we
assume as the same for every one; this, however, is not available for
any logical (mathematically definite) judging of magnitude, but only
for aesthetical judging of the same, because it is a merely subjective
standard lying at the basis of the reflective judgement upon
magnitude. It may be empirical, as, _e.g._ the average size of the men
known to us, of animals of a certain kind, trees, houses, mountains,
etc. Or it may be a standard given _a priori_, which through the
defects of the judging subject is limited by the subjective conditions
of presentation _in concreto_; as, _e.g._ in the practical sphere, the
greatness of a certain virtue, or of the public liberty and justice in
a country; or, in the theoretical sphere, the greatness of the accuracy
or the inaccuracy of an observation or measurement that has been made,
etc.
Here it is remarkable that, although we have no interest whatever in an
Object,--_i.e._ its existence is indifferent to us,--yet its mere size,
even if it is considered as formless, may bring a satisfaction with it
that is universally communicable, and that consequently involves the
consciousness of a subjective purposiveness in the use of our cognitive
faculty. This is not indeed a satisfaction in the Object (because
it may be formless), as in the case of the Beautiful, in which the
reflective Judgement finds itself purposively determined in reference
to cognition in general; but [a satisfaction] in the extension of the
Imagination by itself.
If (under the above limitation) we say simply of an object “it is
great,” this is no mathematically definite judgement but a mere
judgement of reflection upon the representation of it, which is
subjectively purposive for a certain use of our cognitive powers in
the estimation of magnitude; and we always then bind up with the
representation a kind of respect, as also a kind of contempt for what
we simply call “small.” Further, the judging of things as great or
small extends to everything, even to all their characteristics; thus
we describe beauty as great or small. The reason of this is to be
sought in the fact that whatever we present in intuition according to
the precept of the Judgement (and thus represent aesthetically) is
always a phenomenon and thus a quantum.
But if we call anything not only great, but absolutely great in every
point of view (great beyond all comparison), _i.e._ sublime, we soon
see that it is not permissible to seek for an adequate standard of this
outside itself, but merely in itself. It is a magnitude which is like
itself alone. It follows hence that the sublime is not to be sought in
the things of nature, but only in our Ideas; but in which of them it
lies must be reserved for the Deduction.
The foregoing explanation can be thus expressed: _the sublime is that
in comparison with which everything else is small_. Here we easily see
that nothing can be given in nature, however great it is judged by us
to be, which could not if considered in another relation be reduced
to the infinitely small; and conversely there is nothing so small,
which does not admit of extension by our Imagination to the greatness
of a world, if compared with still smaller standards. Telescopes have
furnished us with abundant material for making the first remark,
microscopes for the second. Nothing, therefore, which can be an object
of the senses, is, considered on this basis, to be called sublime.
But because there is in our Imagination a striving towards infinite
progress, and in our Reason a claim for absolute totality, regarded as
a real Idea, therefore this very inadequateness for that Idea in our
faculty for estimating the magnitude of things of sense, excites in
us the feeling of a supersensible faculty. And it is not the object
of sense, but the use which the Judgement naturally makes of certain
objects on behalf of this latter feeling, that is absolutely great; and
in comparison every other use is small. Consequently it is the state
of mind produced by a certain representation with which the reflective
Judgement is occupied, and not the Object, that is to be called sublime.
We may therefore append to the preceding formulas explaining the
sublime this other: _the sublime is that, the mere ability to think
which, shows a faculty of the mind surpassing every standard of Sense_.
§ 26. _Of that estimation of the magnitude of natural things which is
requisite for the Idea of the Sublime_
The estimation of magnitude by means of concepts of number (or their
signs in Algebra) is mathematical; but that in mere intuition (by the
measurement of the eye) is aesthetical. Now we can come by definite
concepts of _how great_ a thing is, [only][44] by numbers, of which the
unit is the measure (at all events by series of numbers progressing
to infinity); and so far all logical estimation of magnitude is
mathematical. But since the magnitude of the measure must then be
assumed known, and this again is only to be estimated mathematically
by means of numbers,--the unit of which must be another [smaller]
measure,--we can never have a first or fundamental measure, and
therefore can never have a definite concept of a given magnitude. So
the estimation of the magnitude of the fundamental measure must consist
in this, that we can immediately apprehend it in intuition and use it
by the Imagination for the presentation of concepts of number. That
is, all estimation of the magnitude of the objects of nature is in the
end aesthetical (_i.e._ subjectively and not objectively determined).
Now for the mathematical estimation of magnitude there is, indeed, no
maximum (for the power of numbers extends to infinity); but for its
aesthetical estimation there is always a maximum, and of this I say
that if it is judged as the absolute measure than which no greater is
possible subjectively (for the judging subject), it brings with it the
Idea of the sublime and produces that emotion which no mathematical
estimation of its magnitude by means of numbers can bring about (except
so far as the aesthetical fundamental measure remains vividly in the
Imagination). For the former only presents relative magnitude by means
of comparison with others of the same kind; but the latter presents
magnitude absolutely, so far as the mind can grasp it in an intuition.
In receiving a quantum into the Imagination by intuition, in order
to be able to use it for a measure or as a unit for the estimation
of magnitude by means of numbers, there are two operations of
the Imagination involved: _apprehension_ (_apprehensio_) and
_comprehension_ (_comprehensio aesthetica_). As to apprehension there
is no difficulty, for it can go on _ad infinitum_; but comprehension
becomes harder the further apprehension advances, and soon attains to
its maximum, viz. the aesthetically greatest fundamental measure for
the estimation of magnitude. For when apprehension has gone so far that
the partial representations of sensuous intuition at first apprehended
begin to vanish in the Imagination, whilst this ever proceeds to the
apprehension of others, then it loses as much on the one side as it
gains on the other; and in comprehension there is a maximum beyond
which it cannot go.
Hence can be explained what _Savary_[45] remarks in his account of
Egypt, viz. that we must keep from going very near the Pyramids just
as much as we keep from going too far from them, in order to get the
full emotional effect from their size. For if we are too far away,
the parts to be apprehended (the stones lying one over the other) are
only obscurely represented, and the representation of them produces no
effect upon the aesthetical judgement of the subject. But if we are
very near, the eye requires some time to complete the apprehension of
the tiers from the bottom up to the apex; and then the first tiers are
always partly forgotten before the Imagination has taken in the last,
and so the comprehension of them is never complete.--The same thing
may sufficiently explain the bewilderment or, as it were, perplexity
which, it is said, seizes the spectator on his first entrance into
St. Peter’s at Rome. For there is here a feeling of the inadequacy
of his Imagination for presenting the Ideas of a whole, wherein the
Imagination reaches its maximum, and, in striving to surpass it, sinks
back into itself, by which, however, a kind of emotional satisfaction
is produced.
I do not wish to speak as yet of the ground of this satisfaction,
which is bound up with a representation from which we should least
of all expect it, viz. a representation which lets us remark its
inadequacy and consequently its subjective want of purposiveness for
the Judgement in the estimation of magnitude. I only remark that if
the aesthetical judgement is pure (i.e. _mingled with no teleological
judgement_ or judgement of Reason) and is to be given as a completely
suitable example of the Critique of the _aesthetical_ Judgement, we
must not exhibit the sublime in products of art (_e.g._ buildings,
pillars, etc.) where human purpose determines the form as well as
the size; nor yet in things of nature _the concepts of which bring
with them a definite purpose_ (_e.g._ animals with a known natural
destination); but in rude nature (and in this only in so far as it
does not bring with it any charm or emotion produced by actual danger)
merely as containing magnitude. For in this kind of representation
nature contains nothing monstrous (either magnificent or horrible);
the magnitude that is apprehended may be increased as much as you
wish provided it can be comprehended in a whole by the Imagination.
An object is _monstrous_ if by its size it destroys the purpose which
constitutes the concept of it. But the mere presentation of a concept
is called _colossal_, which is almost too great for any presentation
(bordering on the relatively monstrous); because the purpose of
the presentation of a concept is made harder [to realise] by the
intuition of the object being almost too great for our faculty of
apprehension.--A pure judgement upon the sublime must, however, have
no purpose of the Object as its determining ground, if it is to be
aesthetical and not mixed up with any judgement of Understanding or
Reason.
* * * * *