Aesthetical And Philosophical Essays

by Frederick Schiller

Overview

Thank you for checking out this book by Theophania Publishing. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you soon. We have thousands of titles available, and we invite you to search for us by name, contact us via our website, or download our most recent catalogues. The special subject of the greater part of the letters and essays of Schiller contained in this volume is Aesthetics; and before passing to any remarks on his treatment of the subject it will be useful to offer a few observations on the nature of this topic, and on its treatment by the philosophical spirit of different ages. First, then, aesthetics has for its object the vast realm of the beautiful, and it may be most adequately defined as the philosophy of art or of the fine arts. To some the definition may seem arbitrary, as excluding the beautiful in nature; but it will cease to appear so if it is remarked that the beauty which is the work of art is higher than natural beauty, because it is the offspring of the mind. Moreover, if, in conformity with a certain school of modern philosophy, the mind be viewed as the true being, including all in itself, it must be admitted that beauty is only truly beautiful when it shares in the nature of mind, and is mind's offspring. Viewed in this light, the beauty of nature is only a reflection of the beauty of the mind, only an imperfect beauty, which as to its essence is included in that of the mind. Nor has it ever entered into the mind of any thinker to develop the beautiful in natural objects, so as to convert it into a science and a system. The field of natural beauty is too uncertain and too fluctuating for this purpose. Moreover, the relation of beauty in nature and beauty in art forms a part of the science of aesthetics, and finds again its proper place.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469927848
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	01/18/2012
Pages:	420
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

Friedrich Schiller was a German poet, dramatist, and philosopher who lived from 1759 to 1805. Johann Kaspar Schiller and Elisabeth Dorothea welcomed their second child to the world at Marbach am Neckar, in the Duchy of Württemberg. Although Schiller majored in law at the University of Stuttgart, his interests lay more in history, philosophy, and literature. His debut play, "The Robbers," which was published in 1781, became an instant hit and catapulted him to fame. Strong characters, political concerns, and philosophical nuance are hallmarks of his plays. In his philosophical writings, Schiller emphasized the idea of freedom and maintained that everyone has the right to the freedom to follow their own aspirations. He was appointed professor of philosophy and history at the University of Jena in 1794, when he met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and became close to him. Schiller had a significant impact on German literature and culture, and his plays and poetry are still read and performed often today. Readers and intellectuals today are still drawn to his perspectives on human nature, freedom, and the arts.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	5
	Letters on the AEsthetical Education of Man	33
	AEsthetical Essays
	The Moral Utility of AEsthetic Manners	126
	On the Sublime	135
	The Pathetic	149
	On Grace and Dignity	175
	On Dignity	211
	On the necessary Limitations in the Use of Beauty and Form	230
	Reflections on the Use of the Vulgar and Low Elements in Works of Art	254
	Detached Reflections on Different Questions of AEsthetics	261
	On Simple and Sentimental Poetry	269
	The Stage as a Moral Institution	339
	On the Tragic Art	346
	Of the Cause of the Pleasure we derive from Tragic Objects	367
	Schiller's Philosophical Letters
	Prefatory Remarks	379
	Theosophy of Julius	387
	On the Connection between the Animal and the Spiritual Nature in Man	406
	Physical Connection	408
	Philosophical Connection	415