Individual self-determination in Friedrich Schiller’s philosophical writings
Kuupäev
2023-06-29
Autorid
Ajakirja pealkiri
Ajakirja ISSN
Köite pealkiri
Kirjastaja
Abstrakt
Friedrich Schiller polnud mitte ainult suurepärane näitekirjanik ja luuletaja, vaid ka eripärane kantiaanlikku traditsiooni kuuluv filosoof. Ta kirjutas teoseid väga erinevates distsipliinides, näiteks esteetikas, moraalifilosoofias ja poliitikas. Schilleri tõlgendajate jaoks on aga kerkinud üles küsimus, kuivõrd kooskõlaline on tema süsteem. Ühelt poolt arutletakse selle üle, kuidas tema nii erinevaid distsipliine käsitlevad tööd omavahel suhestuvad. Teisalt arutletakse ka iga üksiku teose sisemise terviklikkuse üle, kuna Schiller paistab neis ühendavat ühildumatut: vabadust ja loomust, mõistust ja tundeid. Käesolev dissertatsioon väidab, et Schilleri filosoofias on läbiv teema: enesemääramine. Schiller on erinevates teostes näidanud, et enesemääramine on seotud paljude erinevate eluvaldkondadega: esteetika, moraali ja poliitikaga; samuti toob ta välja, kuidas erinevad enesemääramise vormid on omavahel seotud. Näiteks defineerib Schiller ilu nähtumuse vabadusena, mis tähendab, et kaunist objekti tajutakse nii, nagu see määraks ennast ise, nagu järgiks ta oma seadusi. Schilleri väitel omandab inimene esteetilise ilukogemuse kaudu refleksioonivõime, mis võimaldab tal teostada oma individuaalset enesemääramist. Individuaalne enesemääramine on omakorda poliitilise enesemääramise tingimus. Nagu Schiller näitab, saab ainult vaba inimene luua ja hoida vabariiki, s.o. Schilleri terminoloogias “eetilist riiki”. Schillerit tuleb mõista kantiaanina, kes ei kõnele mitte objektide endi võimalikkuse konstitutiivsetest printiipidest, vaid regulatiivsetest ideaalidest. Olgugi kättesaamatud, suunavad need ideaalid meid püüdlema üha suurema moraalset ja sotsiaalpoliitilist arengut, edendades seeläbi meie suuremat sisemist ja välist harmooniat.
Friedrich Schiller was not only a great playwright and poet but also an original philosopher working in the Kantian tradition. He published important works in various disciplinary fields – aesthetics, morality, and politics. There is a debate among scholars concerning the coherence of Schiller’s philosophy. There are two aspects of this debate. First, scholars argue about how Schiller’s works, which deal with such different disciplinary fields, relate to each other. Second, some scholars are also concerned about the inner integrity of each individual work, since Schiller seems to combine the incompatible in them: freedom and natural necessity, the ethical and the aesthetic, sensibility and reason. This dissertation argues that Schiller’s philosophy is coherent. It is unified by the theme of self-determination. In various works, Schiller shows how self-determination is involved in many different aspects of life: aesthetics, morality, and politics, as well as how different forms of self-determination relate to each other. For example, Schiller defines beauty as freedom in appearance, meaning by this that a beautiful object is perceived as if it determines itself, as if it follows its own laws. In turn, through the aesthetic experience of beauty, according to Schiller, a person eventually acquires the capacity for reflection, which enables her to exercise her individual self-determination. Individual self-determination is, in turn, a condition for political self-determination. As Schiller shows, only a free person can participate in the founding and maintenance of an ethical state which is Schiller’s term for a republic. Schiller by no means attempted to combine the incompatible, but following the spirit of Kant’s philosophy he postulated certain regulative ideals which, though unattainable, guide us toward greater and greater moral and socio-political development, thus promoting greater internal and external harmony.
Friedrich Schiller was not only a great playwright and poet but also an original philosopher working in the Kantian tradition. He published important works in various disciplinary fields – aesthetics, morality, and politics. There is a debate among scholars concerning the coherence of Schiller’s philosophy. There are two aspects of this debate. First, scholars argue about how Schiller’s works, which deal with such different disciplinary fields, relate to each other. Second, some scholars are also concerned about the inner integrity of each individual work, since Schiller seems to combine the incompatible in them: freedom and natural necessity, the ethical and the aesthetic, sensibility and reason. This dissertation argues that Schiller’s philosophy is coherent. It is unified by the theme of self-determination. In various works, Schiller shows how self-determination is involved in many different aspects of life: aesthetics, morality, and politics, as well as how different forms of self-determination relate to each other. For example, Schiller defines beauty as freedom in appearance, meaning by this that a beautiful object is perceived as if it determines itself, as if it follows its own laws. In turn, through the aesthetic experience of beauty, according to Schiller, a person eventually acquires the capacity for reflection, which enables her to exercise her individual self-determination. Individual self-determination is, in turn, a condition for political self-determination. As Schiller shows, only a free person can participate in the founding and maintenance of an ethical state which is Schiller’s term for a republic. Schiller by no means attempted to combine the incompatible, but following the spirit of Kant’s philosophy he postulated certain regulative ideals which, though unattainable, guide us toward greater and greater moral and socio-political development, thus promoting greater internal and external harmony.
Kirjeldus
Märksõnad
philosophers, writers, German, philosophy, aesthetics, personality, self-perception, idealism, kantianism