Habermas In the Rain

The sublime sentiment , which is also the sentiment of the sublime, is, according to Kant, a strong and equivocal emotion: It carries with it both pleasure and Pain. Better still, in it pleasure derives from pain.

-Habermas, What is Postmodernism (43)

That was a lot of commas. This really reached out and snatched my attention, I feel a though it describes the irony of Life itself. What is sunshine without rain or snow? Would we find pleasure in beautiful weather if not for nasty, muddy or cold conditions? There is no perspective on perceived good until one has experienced perceived bad. Yet all of this perceived positive or negative is purely subjective, yet judged by billions. Yet much of that experience or judgment seems to be driven by an eclectic taste, generally a well-accepted social narrative. It all seems rather arbitrary.

Is not the most erotic portion of a sky where the clouds gape? (repurposed Barthes)

Maybe that is what makes the sublime sentiment so innately human. People use that alleged pain or pleasure to quantify existence: To accurately feel both, revisiting each sentiment, is to be truly alive.