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Sublime

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The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible

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Abstract

This entry defines the sublime and presents its historical context, focusing on its conceptual and philosophical aspects. The sublime denotes an intense, charged emotion with high arousal and containing a mixed valence (negative-positive). A sublime experience is an aesthetic experience of uplift and elevation in response to a powerful or vast object that is otherwise typically experienced as menacing or overwhelming. The experience is overall positive and pleasing, for participants typically desire the experience to continue. Second, this entry surveys several themes disputed in the literature: the sublime’s relation to beauty, fear, and awe, why it is pleasing, and its being self-referential or reflexive. Third, the entry summarizes recent empirical research on the topic. The sublime has received relatively little scientific attention, only beginning in the past decade. A prominent empirical approach to the sublime conceptualizes it as having a fear component, although some recent studies have begun to question this. Finally, the entry concludes with a reflection on the sublime and the possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gwynedd Mercy University, Gwynedd Valley, PA, USA

    Robert R. Clewis

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  1. Robert R. Clewis
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Correspondence to Robert R. Clewis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Vlad Petre Glăveanu

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy

    Alice Chirico

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Clewis, R.R. (2022). Sublime. In: Glăveanu, V.P. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90913-0_114

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