Critique of Judgement (Bernard Translation)

"...indicates a mental faculty that far surpasses every standard of sense." To explain the necessity inherent in our judgments about the sublime, Kant points out that just as we feel compelled to assume a shared sense original: sensus communis; a shared capacity for feeling that allows for universal agreement on matters of taste to account for why people agree in their appreciation of beautiful objects, the principle underlying their agreement in judging the sublime is "the presupposition of the moral feeling in humanity." Feeling the sublimity of our own moral destiny is the necessary prerequisite for making such judgments.

The connection between Beauty and Goodness—which was inherent to the ancient Greeks in the double meaning of the word "the beautiful" original Greek: καλόν (kalon); a term encompassing both physical beauty and moral goodness—is developed by Kant with keen insight. He regards taking an interest in the beauty of nature as a sign of a moral disposition, though he will not admit that the same conclusion can be drawn about the character of an art connoisseur (§ 42). However, the originality of Kant's treatment becomes especially apparent regarding the connection between the capacity for appreciating the sublime and our moral feeling.

The objects of nature, he continues, which we call sublime, inspire us with a feeling of pain rather than pleasure; as the Roman poet Lucretius put it:

But this "horror" or "awe" must not inspire actual fear. Just as no outside charm or attraction should interfere with the satisfaction felt in a beautiful object, if the judge—