How to think about the sublime

[highplainsdem]

4. That's really the wrong way to think about the sublime, a perversion of the original meaning by adding

fear/terror to it. Experiencing the sublime is a sense of exaltation/admiration.

I checked my copy of the OED and the original use of the word had none of those negative connotations added to it.

From that article:

Burke was interested in what happens to the self when assailed by that which seems to endanger its survival. He also moved the analysis away from the sublime object and towards the experience of the beholder, thus making his enquiry a psychological one. The sublime, declared Burke, was “the strongest passion,” and he belittled the importance of the beautiful, claiming that it was merely an instance of prettiness.

That's a complete misunderstanding. Neurotic, really, to think that something can't be sublime unless you're also afraid of it.

What Burke was describing was a feeling of awe. The word awe was originally all about simple fear/terror, rather than fear mixed with reverence/admiration. More recently the fear aspect has been downplayed, so saying something is awesome is not meant to suggest it is or should be terrifying.