On the Aesthetic Education of Man and Other Philosophical Essays

Friedrich Schiller was a German philosopher, poet, and playwright during the late 1700's. Schiller was in the army when he began writing his first plays. His superiors found his first composition and immediately told him that he was no longer allowed to write anymore. In response, Schiller deserted the army, moved to another country, and began writing under a false name. During this time, Schiller became close with famed playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Along with Goethe, Schiller was a deep-thinker on ethics and aesthetics. His beliefs held that beauty is not just an aesthetic experience; beauty is connected with goodness. He also was preoccupied with the morals of human freedom and how the will for freedom conflicted with self-preservation or martyrdom. Both Schiller and Goethe had a complex relationship with Immanuel Kant's philosophies, though they respected Kant for his influence on the subject of aesthetics. Some critics and philosophers have looked at Schiller's works such as the ones present in "Aesthetical and Philosophical Essays" and believed that Schiller's ideas have the potential for being very useful to society. Because Schiller believed that the aesthetic function of beauty could release mankind from struggle, some have argued that his views could ultimately change the world if adopted by all people. While Schiller is not seen as one of the foremost thinkers on ethics and aesthetics, he certainly proved his intelligent ideas and critiques of the subjects with works such as this one.