Desiring the Transcendent – Plato’s Eros and Eighteenth-Century Notions Concerning the Affections of the Sublime

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Published: May 22, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14232/suc.2022.3.431-451
Keywords:
sublime, Eros, Longinus, Plato, Kant, Burke

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Baranyi Tamás
Eötvös Loránd University

Abstract

Most scholars agree that eighteenth-century notions of the sublime stem from antiquity, seeking its origins in Pseudo-Longinus’ famous tractate On the Sublime. The objective of the present study is to highlight a less discussed viewpoint as described more recently by James I. Porter, which argues that the aforementioned theories have more to do with ancient Platonic conceptions regarding intelligible beauty than Longinus’ rhetorical analysis of ὕψος. Plato’s Phaedrus and the Symposium are the most frequently mentioned dialogues to support this theory, focusing mainly on divine beauty and its parallels with eighteenth-century descriptions of the sublime. In this article I would like to approach the question from a somewhat different perspective: eros. Is it possible to find parallels between early modern accounts of emotions accompanying the sublime experience and Plato’s notions on erotic mania?

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How to Cite
Baranyi, T. (2023). Desiring the Transcendent – Plato’s Eros and Eighteenth-Century Notions Concerning the Affections of the Sublime. Sapiens Ubique Civis, 3, 431–451. https://doi.org/10.14232/suc.2022.3.431-451
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Vol. 3 (2022): Sapiens ubique civis III
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Articles
Author Biography

Baranyi Tamás, Eötvös Loránd University

has a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature as well as in Philosophy. He is currently a PhD student in the Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Doctoral Program of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, while also training to become a mental health counsellor at Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church, Budapest. His main research focus is ancient aesthetics and ancient psychology.