On the Aesthetic Education of Man

by Friedrich Schiller

Overview

A classic of eighteenth-century thought, Friedrich Schiller's treatise on the role of art in society ranks among German philosophy's most profound works. In addition to its importance to the history of ideas, this 1795 essay remains relevant to our own time. Beginning with a political analysis of contemporary society-in particular, the French Revolution and its failure to implement universal freedom-Schiller observes that people cannot transcend their circumstances without education. He conceives of art as the vehicle of education, one that can liberate individuals from the constraints and excesses of either pure nature or pure mind. Through aesthetic experience, he asserts, people can reconcile the inner antagonism between sense and intellect, nature and reason. Schiller's proposal of art as fundamental to the development of society and the individual is an enduringly influential concept, and this volume offers his philosophy's clearest, most vital expression.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141396972
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	09/29/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	204
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) was one of the greatest playwrights, poets, philosophers and historians writing in German. Penguin also publishes his plays Mary Stuart, The Robbers and Wallenstein. Some of the most productive years of his short life were spent in Jena and Weimar, where his creative friendship with Goethe has taken on a mythic status. His poem 'Ode to Joy' became the basis for the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and is now the European Union's anthem.

Table of Contents

	Introduction	1
	First Letter	23
	Second Letter	25
	Third Letter	27
	Fourth Letter	30
	Fifth Letter	34
	Sixth Letter	37
	Seventh Letter	45
	Eighth Letter	47
	Ninth Letter	50
	Tenth Letter	55
	Eleventh Letter	60
	Twelfth Letter	64
	Thirteenth Letter	67
	Fourteenth Letter	73
	Fifteenth Letter	75
	Sixteenth Letter	81
	Seventeenth Letter	85
	Eighteenth Letter	87
	Nineteenth Letter	91
	Twentieth Letter	97
	Twenty-First Letter	100
	Twenty-Second Letter	102
	Twenty-Third Letter	107
	Twenty-Fourth Letter	113
	Twenty-Fifth Letter	119
	Twenty-Sixth Letter	124
	Twenty-Seventh Letter	131
	Index	141