Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant both explored the concept of the Sublime, but with distinct approaches:

1. Edmund Burke: In his work A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757), Burke defined the Sublime as an experience of awe or terror evoked by vastness, power, or obscurity. He emphasized its emotional impact, contrasting it with the more tranquil and harmonious experience of beauty. For Burke, the Sublime arises from things that threaten or overwhelm us, like storms or vast landscapes, yet remain at a safe distance, allowing us to feel both fear and exhilaration.

2. Immanuel Kant: In Critique of Judgment (1790), Kant distinguished between the “mathematical Sublime” (vastness in size or scope) and the “dynamic Sublime” (overwhelming power, like a thunderstorm). For Kant, the Sublime reveals the limits of human reason and imagination, but also our capacity to transcend these limits through moral and intellectual reflection. It highlights the mind’s ability to grasp the infinite, even when the senses are overwhelmed.

Both philosophers saw the Sublime as a profound encounter with the limits of human experience, but while Burke focused on its emotional and sensory impact, Kant tied it to the power of human reason and moral freedom.