This book is the first in English to provide a detailed philosophical study of Schiller's major work in aesthetics, the Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795). The introduction surveys those books in English with chapters on the treatise and concludes with an outline of Kant's critical system and a summary of this theories of aesthetic judgment, art and beauty. The main body of the work consists of an exegesis of Schiller's text. In part one (Letters 1-9), we follow Schiller as he describes the afflictions of civilization and their cure. In part two (Letters 10-17), we follow Schiller as he considers the essential nature of man and beauty. In part three (Letters 18-27), we follow Schiller as he describes the psychological development of the individual and species from a sensuous to a rational condition, through the mediation of the aesthetic. The exposition is accompanied by assessment and criticism. The conclusion commences with a recapitulation of the main arguments in each Letter. This is followed by an evaluation of the Aesthetic Letters, identifying those specific theories of contemporary relevance, and with the potential for further theoretical development.

Publisher Description

Kant's philosophical achievements have long overshadowed those of his German contemporaries, often to the point of concealing his contemporaries' influence upon him. This volume of new essays draws on recent research into the rich complexity of eighteenth-century German thought, examining key figures in the development of aesthetics and art history, the philosophy of history and education, political philosophy, and the philosophy of religion. The essays range over numerous thinkers including Baumgarten, Mendelssohn, Meyer, Winckelmann, Herder, Schiller, Hamann and Fichte, showing how they variously influenced, challenged, and revised Kant's philosophy, at times moving it in novel directions unacceptable to the magister himself. The volume will be valuable for all who are interested in this distinctive period of German philosophy.

Friedrich Schiller, the dramatist and poet, greatly influenced the development of aesthetics through his essays. He sums up the eighteenth century while anticipating modern ideas; his notions of the naive and the sentimental, of art as play, and of beauty as semblance, have had a lasting impact on aesthetic speculation. Dr Sharpe's book is the first study devoted to tracing the attempts of successive generations of philosophers and literary critics to expound the works and deal with the problems they present. Surveying Anglo-American as well as German-language criticism, she illuminates the impact of critical and political change on their evaluation.

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Art is the right hand of Nature. The latter has only given us being, the former has made us men.-Friedrich Schiller Only through Beauty's morning-gate, dost thou penetrate the land of knowledge. - Friedrich Schiller Friedrich Schiller Grace is the beauty of form under the influence of freedom. Friedrich Schiller - - Friedrich Schiller

In this, one of his chief philosophical writings, Schiller attempts to develop Kant's theory of art to the conclusion that 'Beauty' and 'Play' together constitute the ethical ideal. In a series of letters Schiller wrote to his benefactor Friedrich Christian, Duke of Scbleswig Holstein-Augustenburg, he expresses his convictions and concerns on matters both aesthetic and ethical. This is a particularly: acclaimed translation of Schiller's prose, which successfully captures his characteristically poetic style.