on the sublime

sublime

whenever the object is presented or represented, our sensuous nature feels its limits, but our rational nature feels its superiority, its freedom from limits. Thus, we come up short against a sublime object physically, but we elevate ourselves above it morally, namely, through ideas.

as sensuous beings we are dependent
as rational beings we are free

When nature stands in contradiction to our instincts and drives, our dependency is revealed through our rational nature (at which point it no longer acts as free, but subjected)...