Friedrich Schiller on Beauty and Aesthetics – Philosopher of the Month | Oxford University Press

This August, explore the life and work of Friedrich von Schiller by Panumas King, marketing executive for philosophy at Oxford University Press

Graff, Anton. Porträt des Friedrich von Schiller. Between circa 1786 and circa 1791, Kügelgenhaus Museum der Dresdner Romantik, Dresden. 
Public Domain via Wikimedia

German poet and playwright, Friedrich Schiller is considered a profound and influential philosopher. His philosophical-aesthetic writings played an important role in shaping the development of German idealism and Romanticism in one of the most prolific periods of German philosophy and literature. Those writings are primarily concerned with the redemptive value of the arts and beauty in human existence. He was immensely well-known for his literary accomplishments, and his influence on German literature, having written a number of successful historical dramas, such as The Robbers, Maria Stuart, and the trilogy Wallenstein. His poem, “Ode to Joy” was set in the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and later enshrined in the European Hymn.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Schwangau, Germany.  
Photo: Ashley Knedler on Unsplash

Born in 1759, in Marbach in the state of Württemberg in southwest Germany, son of an army surgeon, Schiller attended the military academy of Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg and emerged as an army doctor in 1780. 
Read more...

Source: Oxford University Press