Sarah Ratzlaff

Research Project

Infinite Abundance: Schiller on the Question of Aesthetic Freedom

Schiller’s philosophy is often characterized as being riddled with contradictions and conflicting aims. Nowhere does this appear more prevalent than in Über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen. The problem here is that it remains unclear, on Schiller’s account, whether the highest end of human development is aesthetic or moral. Does our vocation consist of bringing about a condition of harmony between the faculties of reason and feeling, or is that condition merely preparatory for the higher end of attaining rational autonomy? In my research, I seek to show that Schiller offers an account of freedom in which aesthetic and moral freedom are both compatible with one another and necessary conditions for each other’s existence. This demonstrates that Schiller is not divided between two competing forms of freedom that inherently contradict one another, but is instead offering a novel theory that avoids some of the pitfalls found in both the Kantian and Reinholdian traditions.
A development of Schiller’s theory of freedom will also require an investigation into his larger transcendental idealist framework. Of particular interest for me will be an examination of Schiller’s theory of drives, how he derives them, and whether he thinks there are multiple constitutive drives within the individual. This latter topic is a question I hope to explore (and perhaps answer) during my time at Potsdam.