Abstract

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.