“När anden svävar högt” : En pedagogisk filosofisk studie om det sublimas innebörd och möjlighetsrum i ett litet barns tillvaro

Sammanfattning: The study intends to examine the phenomenon of the sublime in relation to early childhood. The aim is to explicate what meaning the sublime can take in the existence of a little child, the various aspects of the sublime children are able to experience and where the possibilities of such experiences dwell. The study sets out in understanding the sublime as something transcendent, enormous and powerful that has potential for transforming the one who experiences it. The transforming potential of the sublime is what makes the phenomenon interesting from a pedagogical point of view. The discussion of the questions raised in the study takes its origin in classic texts on sublimity, written by Edmund Burke (1757) and Immanuel Kant (1790) in the 17th century. The analysis these philosophers made contributes to the examination of the meaning sublimity may acquire for a little child, as well as how and where in everyday life small children have opportunities for sublime experiences. The study shows that the sublime can be experienced by small children in two ways. Firstly, by means of senses as delightful horror, a thrill tingled with fear. Secondly, it can be experienced spiritually as a will to defend the good and the just, to measure one’s strengths against what overwhelms one.