 Eighteenth-century aesthetics moved away somewhat from the view that the arts should carefully control our emotions, although the notion that artworks both express and excite emotions remained. Particularly interesting in this regard is the development of the concept of the sublime. As Burke explains it, the experience of the sublime transgresses categories of pain and pleasure and explains much of our response to dramatic tragedy. Here it seems that aesthetic, and other distinctive experiences can produce emotions that are sui generis, a view that gives aesthetics a particular importance for any understanding of the emotions.