Academic Source 5: Letters Upon the Aesthetic Education of Man by Friedrich Schiller

Schiller, Friedrich. "Letters Upon the Aesthetic Education of Man." Literary and philosophical essays: French, German and Italian. With introductions and notes. 'Comp'. The Harvard classics, 32. New York: Collier, 1910. Print. In his letters, Schiller establishes a context for aesthetics in the endeavors of humanity. Speaking first of art, and then through the conditions of his time (French Revolution) that inspire him to transcend both, Schiller finds aesthetics essential to the education of man. To support this ideal, Schiller speaks of necessity and neediness as limiting forces of nature that, if enforced by the state, stifle the potential of humanity to establish ideal conditions (both internal, or of the mind, and external). I will use Schiller’s celebrated work on Aesthetics as opposition. I will accommodate Schiller to the extent that the aesthetic may serve as an activating force for the elevation of social and internal consciousness, but counter where he fails to acknowledge the limiting potential of such when it renders man banal (demonstrated with other, more current sources).