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Sunday, 4 March 2012

Assignment 1 : Letters Upon The Aesthetic Education of Man, 1794




         I have read from the book of 'Letters Upon The Aesthetic Education of Man, 1794' by J.C. Friedrich Von Schiller, the first letter to the fifth letter of the book and i have found that the writer talk about his researches upon beauty and art. He importance in the intellectual history of Germany is by no means confined to his poetry and dramas. He did notable work in history and philosophy, and in the department of esthetics especially, he made significant contributions, modifying and developing in important respects the doctrines of Kant. In the letters on "Esthetic Education", he gives the philosophic basis for his doctrine of art, and indicates clearly and persuasively his view of the place of beauty in human life.

          If we look to the first letter in first paragraph which is it said that, '..I am keenly sensible of the importance as well as of the charm and dignity of this undertaking. I shall treat a subject which is closely connected with the better portion of our happiness and not far removed from the moral nobility of human nature. I shall plead this cause of the Beautiful before a heart by which her whole power is felt and exercised, and which will take upon itself the most difficult part of my task in an investigation where one is compelled to appeal as frequently to feelings as to principles'. I am not sure that some philosophers have thought this, but it doesn't seem very plausible to describe. Thus, there is a lot of opinion about 'beautiful'. From my perspective of beauty is it can be accepted as the characteristic of a person, animal, place, object or an idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. Beauty is also studied as part of aesthetics. The experience of "beauty" often involves the interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being. Because this is a subjective issue, it is often said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". If we look to the next letter of Schiller which is in the last paragraph, he think that he can not only excuse, but even justify by solid grounds to resisting that attractive purpose and in preferring beauty to freedom.

         I am quite interested when read the third letter of Schiller which is in paragraph four '...When the mechanic has to mend a watch, he lets the wheels run out, but the living watchworks of the state have to be repaired while they act, and a wheel has to be exchanged for another during its revolutions. Accordingly props must be sought for to support society and keep it going while it is made independent of the natural condition from which it is sought to emancipate it.' I like when he trying to describe some situation by used some character like the mechanic repair a watch. Its make the reader to be more creative to imagine the situation thus, be more think out of the box. Other than that, Schiller also think that the term natural condition can be applied to every political body which owes its establishment originally to forces and not to laws, and such as a state contradicts the moral nature of a man, because lawfulness can alone have authority over this and it is quite sufficient for the physical man. At the same time, Schiller also consider that the physical man is a reality and the moral man problematical. I think that there are two different characters of a man which is one is positive character and the other is negative.

          According to the all five letters of J.C. Friedrich Von Schiller that i have read, I am randomly conclude that the writer was trying to express on how beauty and arts effect in life. How important of beauty in every person. All that kind of things was give an effect to my perception of beauty. However, this is my first time reading this kind of philosophical book which discussed issues concerning ethics and aesthetics style and also has a deep meaning in each words that the writer used. Nevertheless, this is an interesting book that i ever read so far and it give some positive attitude of beauty in life.






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