Overwhelming Perfection: A Defense of Addison's Account of the Sublime.

This article focuses on Joseph Addison's account of the sublime, arguing that his historically influential view—that sublime experience is pleasurable because it overwhelms the imagination with vast, perfect content suited to human faculties—offers a compelling alternative to dominant theories that characterize sublimity as a mixed experience involving both pleasure and pain. Addison’s conception denies that fear or negative affect is necessary to the sublime, instead emphasizing that overwhelming immensity can be experienced as pure joy. The article situates Addison’s theory within contemporary philosophical and psychological research, noting that recent empirical studies often fail to find consistent evidence of fear in sublime experiences and that sublimity aligns with an aesthetic form of awe. By integrating Addison’s perspective, the article addresses challenges faced by mixed-valence accounts and supports a broader understanding of sublime experience as intensely pleasurable and cognitively engaging without requiring negative emotions.