Aesthetic and moral judgment: The Kantian sublime in the 'Observations', the 'Remarks' (translated), and the 'Critique of Judgment'

This study characterizes Kant's understanding of the relation between aesthetic and moral judgment by examining the concept of sublimity in three of Kant's texts: the Beobachtungen uber das Gefuhl des Schonen und Erhabenen (Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime, 1764), the Bemerkungen in den " Beobachtungen uber das Gefuhl des Schonen und Erhabenen" (Remarks in the "Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime," 1764--5), and the Kritik der Urteilskraft (Critique of Judgment, 1790). Part I examines aesthetic and moral judgment in the Observations and the Remarks; Part II characterizes Kant's account in the later or critical period; and Part III contains my English translation of the Remarks . Because it clearly distinguishes moral from aesthetic judgment, Kant's critical account is superior to both earlier accounts.;In the earlier accounts, the four types of the sublime (das Erhabene )---the splendid, the noble, the terrifying, and the grotesque---share a bipolar structure of positive uplift and negative descent (Part I). Moral judgment is not clearly distinguished from aesthetic judgment. In the Observations, moral feeling is defined in terms of sublimity, and in both accounts moral judgment is involved in distinguishing apparent from genuine sublimity.;Four types of sublimity in the Critique of Judgment are characterized: the mathematical, the dynamical, the moral, and the sublime of mental states (Part II). Kant correctly distinguishes an aesthetic judgment of sublimity from a moral judgment. Although the moral feeling of respect has a structure similar to that of the sublime feeling, the feelings differ significantly. Aesthetic and moral judgments are not completely unrelated, however. One can take an intellectual or morally-based interest in an aesthetic, disinterested judgment of sublimity. Kant's own interest in spectators' sublime enthusiasm for the French Revolution provides an example of such interest.;By examining Kant's early struggles to work out an understanding of the relation between aesthetic and moral judgment, one can better appreciate Kant's accomplishment in the critical period.