It’s funny how I assumed that “sublime” somehow had something to do with slime or a part of a lime, and I never bothered to actually look up the word itself. I guess this assignment turned out to be a great reason for me to look it up for the first time. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “sublime” is defined as (a) lofty, grand, or exalted in thought, expression, or manner; (b) of outstanding spiritual, intellectual, or moral worth; (c) tending to inspire awe usually because of elevated quality (as of beauty, nobility, or grandeur) or transcendent excellence. Basically, sublime is when something is A+ or tremendously astounding or astonishing. I did find it interesting, though, that sublime could also mean complete or utter, which I think could be a better definition in “The Beautiful and the Ugly are One Thing, the Sublime Another: A Reflection on Culture.” I think it’s interesting how the word sublime is even in the title, but I know it is no accident. The article discusses in detail the difference (or the lack of) between the beautiful and the ugly, and I think Diamond believes that neither the beautiful nor the ugly can achieve completeness or outstanding worth, which makes a lot of sense given the arguments Diamond makes in this article, especially the point that what one culture finds beautiful, another culture might find ugly; what is beautiful one day might be outrageous the next. Sublime is a much deeper word than I thought!
