The Aesthetic Letters Or On the Aesthetic Education Of Man, In A Series Of Letters “Freedom can occur only through education.”
Friedrich Schiller is not just popular because of all his translations, plays and poems but also because of his letters focusing on The Aesthetic Education of Man. He published this series of letters, which consist of twenty-seven individual ones, in 1794 for the very first time. Schiller wrote these letters because he was inspired by the great disenchantment he felt about the French Revolution. Schiller wrote the letters because he was so impressed that the people of France tried to change their current situation and that they were not afraid of using violence. The Aesthetic Education of Man can be regarded as a philosophical inquiry into what had gone wrong and he reflects about the fact how such incidents can be prevented. In his opinion the purpose of the letters is to elevevate the moral character of a people. "Beauty" can be seen as one key topic of Schiller´s writing. It is important that the human soul gets in touch with beauty. Moreover, he describes how art and beauty are related to human freedom.
Typical for Schiller´s aesthetic philosophy is that human nature consists of two realms of being: the one which persists and the other one which changes.
It is important to highlight that according to Schiller aesthetic education can produce not only an increased level of awareness or receptivity to the world but it can also produce an increased intensity. Before Schiller´s attempt to explain his philosophy, feelings and emotions were regarded as not necessary. The only thing that counts was the mind, the brain and rationality. Schiller tried to explain that feelings and rationality can be combined without problems. Therefore, he describes beauty as an aesthetic unity of thoughts and feelings, of contemplation and sensation, of reason and intuition.
In his opinion, beauty can lead to truth. Finally, Schiller believes that the human being can only be fully satisfied and free when both side, emotions and rationality, are combined. It is important that these two sides support each other and that they do not constrain each other. In short, the state of true aesthetic freedom can only be achieved by a process of mediation between the state of feeling and the state of thinking.
Typical for Schiller´s aesthetic philosophy is that human nature consists of two realms of being: the one which persists and the other one which changes.
It is important to highlight that according to Schiller aesthetic education can produce not only an increased level of awareness or receptivity to the world but it can also produce an increased intensity. Before Schiller´s attempt to explain his philosophy, feelings and emotions were regarded as not necessary. The only thing that counts was the mind, the brain and rationality. Schiller tried to explain that feelings and rationality can be combined without problems. Therefore, he describes beauty as an aesthetic unity of thoughts and feelings, of contemplation and sensation, of reason and intuition.
In his opinion, beauty can lead to truth. Finally, Schiller believes that the human being can only be fully satisfied and free when both side, emotions and rationality, are combined. It is important that these two sides support each other and that they do not constrain each other. In short, the state of true aesthetic freedom can only be achieved by a process of mediation between the state of feeling and the state of thinking.
