by kbrowne » November 24th, 2005, 1:02 pm
MikeoftheLollards,
Gaius and Titius say that when the tourist applied the word ‘sublime’ to the waterfall he was not saying anything about the waterfall; he was really describing his own feelings. He had those feelings that make you describe whatever you are thinking about as ‘sublime’. That would mean that whenever you describe anything as sublime you mean that you have the feelings that the tourist had when looking at the waterfall.
Now if you say ‘I have sublime feelings’ you are describing your own feelings as sublime. That means that you feel, when thinking about your feelings, the same things that the tourist felt when looking at the waterfall. Just as he projected the quality of sublimity onto the waterfall (in Gaius’ and Titius’ view) so you would be projecting the quality of sublimity onto your own feelings. Your own feelings seem to you to be sublime, just as the waterfall seemed sublime to the tourist.
Lewis is saying that when we think something is sublime we do not have feelings that seem to us to be sublime. Rather, we have feelings that seem to us to be humble feelings, feelings of veneration. Therefore, even if we accept Gaius’ and Titius’ view, we should not say, as they do, ‘I have sublime feelings’, although ‘I have feelings associated in my mind with the word “Sublime”, which they also say, would, I suppose, be all right.
As Lewis says it is a minor point, although perhaps it shows that Gaius and Titius were a bit careless.
I hope this helps.