Table 1.
Summary of Basic Content Referenced about Sublime and Transcendent Emotion.
| Term | Definition | Author (s) |
|---|---|---|
| Sublime emotion | Emotion characterized by astonishment, awe, fear, respect and admiration. Feeling a mix of terror and pleasure that becomes a “delightful horror” if no real danger is perceived. Stimuli that trigger it include natural and non-natural places with particular features and properties, qualities of human frailty, the infinite, eternity, and certain works of art. This is distinct from “beauty.” | Burke (1757/2005) |
| The sort of feeling that stirs the soul, whether due to surprise, terror, reverence, magnificence, trembling, or respect. Kant added certain personal characteristics to the sublime stimuli earlier proposed by Burke. | Kant (1764/2008) | |
| Sublime emotion toward nature | Experiencing fear and pleasure in a wilderness perceived as powerful. In a mix of awe, humility, self-transcendence, joy, sadness, enthusiasm, and connection with the whole universe. This is produced by “horrid” landscapes as well as superhuman dimensions like eternity, infinity, and the ineffable. | Bodei (2008/2011) |
| Self-transcendence | Peak experience. A larger-than-life experience of self-realization characterized by a mix of spiritual emotions like enlightenment, awe, reverence, humility, happiness, wonder, and connection to the universe, among others. | Maslow (1964) |
| Flow experience. Achieving harmony and balance in consciousness by engaging in creativity and focused attention on a process of authentic personal growth. This entails deep enjoyment of life and attainment of happiness. | Csikszentmihalyi, 2014 | |
| Feeling of awe | An emotional experience characterized by fear, vulnerability, humility, disorientation, inspiration, and renewal; and in contrast, sensing a higher power, beauty, and justice, among other things. | Keltner and Haidt (2003) Shiota et al. (2007) |
| A mix of emotional states – epiphany, joy, mortal fear, vitality, humility, vulnerability, respect, and sensing a connection with all of nature – elicited by nature’s mystery, power, savagery, and unpredictability. | Cousins et al. (2009) |