Dialectic of Love: Platonism in Schiller's Aesthetics (McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Ideas)

453 Pages·1997·24.23 MB·English

by  David Vaughan Pugh

DIALECTIC OF LOVE
PLATONISM IN SCHILLER'S AESTHETICS
Unravelling the contradictions and complexities of Friedrich Schiller's
labyrinthine thought, David Pugh illuminates the inner dynamics of his
writings and places them within a wider philosophical and cultural con-
text. While modern discussions tend to focus on Schiller's thought in re-
lation to the Enlightenment, Pugh argues that his ideas have a greater
affinity with ancient and Renaissance thought.
Dialectic of Love analyses the arguments of Schiller's major writings on
aesthetics and argues that his philosophical thought, theories, and con-
cepts are characteristic of the Platonic tradition. Pugh suggests that
Schiller's conception of beauty be seen as synthesis, the sublime as sepa-
ration. He connects these concepts to Aristotle's critique of Plato's the-
ory of ideas, in which Aristotle points out an aporia of chorismos
(separation) and methexis (participation). In Schiller's thought, Pugh ar-
gues, beauty and the sublime operate primarily as metaphysical rela-
tions of methexis and chorismos and only secondarily as aesthetic concepts.
While Schiller, Pugh reveals, is not very well suited for the role of
champion of the Enlightenment, he remains a crucial figure in the
transmission of the Platonic tradition to modern idealism and to the
aesthetic thought of the nineteenth century.
DAVID PUGH is associate professor of German, Queen's University.
Mc GILL-QUEEN'S STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF IDEAS
1 Problems of Cartesianism
Edited by Thomas M. Lennon, John M. Nicholas, and
John W. Davis
2 The Development of the Idea of History in Antiquity
Gerald A. Press
3 Claude Buffier and Thomas Reid:
Two Common-Sense Philosophers
Louise Marcil-Lacoste
4 Schiller, Hegel, and Marx:
State, Society, and the Aesthetic Ideal of Ancient Greece
Philip J. Kain
5 John Case and Aristotelianism in Renaissance England
Charles B. Schmitt
6 Beyond Liberty and Property:
The Process of Self-Recognition in Eighteenth-Century
Political Thought
J.A.W. Gunn
7 John Toland: His Methods, Manners, and Mind
Stephen H. Daniel
8 Coleridge and the Inspired Word
Anthony John Harding
9 The Jena System, 1804-5: Logic and Metaphysics
G.W.F. Hegel
Translation edited by John W. Burbidge and George di Giovanni
Introduction and notes by H.S. Harris
10 Consent, Coercion, and Limit:
The Medieval Origins of Parliamentary Democracy
Arthur P. Monahan
11 Scottish Common Sense in Germany, 1768-1800:
A Contribution to the History of Critical Philosophy
Manfred Kuehn
12 Paine and Cobbett:
The Transatlantic Connection
David A. Wilson
13 Descartes and the Enlightenment
Peter A. Schouls
14 Greek Scepticism
Anti-Realist Trends in Ancient Thought
Leo Groarke
15 The Irony of Theology and the Nature of Religious Thought
Donald Wiebe
16 Form and Transformation
A Study in the Philosophy of Plotinus
Frederic M. Schroeder
17 From Personal Duties towards Personal Rights
Late Medieval and Early Modern Political Thought, c. 1300—c. 1650
Arthur P. Monahan
18 The Main Philosophical Writings and the Novel Allwill
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi
Translated and Edited by George di Giovanni
19 Kierkegaard as Humanist
Discovering My Self
Arnold B. Come
20 Durkheim, Morals, and Modernity
W. Watts Miller
21 The Career of Toleration
John Locke, Jonas Proast, and After
Richard Vernon
2 2 Dialectic of Love
Platonism in Schiller's Aesthetics
David Pugh
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DIALECTIC OF LOVE
Platonism in Schiller's Aesthetics
David Pugh
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo
© McGill-Queen's University Press 1996
ISBN 0-7735-1020-6
Legal deposit second quarter 1997
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the
Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds
provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada. Further financial support was granted by the School of
Graduate Studies and Research, Queen's University.
McGill-Queen's University Press is grateful to the Canada Council for
support of its publishing program.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Pugh, David Vaughan, 1952-
Dialectic of love: platonism in Schiller's aesthetics
(McGill-Queen's studies in the history of ideas; 22)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-1020-6
1. Schiller, Friedrich, 1759-1805—Aesthetics.
2. Platonists. I. Title. II. Series.
PT2496.Ep84 1997 111'.85 C97-900097-1
This book was typeset by Typo Litho Composition Inc.
in 10 / 12 Baskerville
patri Optimo
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Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
Note on Translation s xvii
Abbreviations xix
1 Introduction 3
II Mythological Transformations 39
III Logic and Metaphysics 67
IV Schiller, Kant, and Plato 101
v Ideals and Illusions 132
VI The Departure of Venus: "Die Gotter Griechenlandes" 168
VII New Solutions: "Die Kunstler" 205
VIII Beauty and Goodness: Uber Anmut und Wurde 239
IX The Rational and the Aesthetic State:
Uber die asthetische Erziehung des Menschen 287