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The matter of freedom: Schiller on sacrificial rationality and the emancipatory potential of art

The matter of freedom: Schiller on sacrificial rationality and the emancipatory potential of art
The matter of freedom: Schiller on sacrificial rationality and the emancipatory potential of art
This article examines Friedrich Schiller’s view of freedom associated with artistic creation and practice. First, I show that when Schiller attempts to understand the violent outcome of the French Revolution, he finds that modern reason has performed a ‘sacrifice of the natural,’i.e., it has sacrificed sensuous materiality, need, desire, feeling, and imagination for the sake of progress of civilization. I argue that Schiller’s conception of freedom in artistic creation ought to be understood as a realm beyond the violent ‘sacrifice of the natural,’ since art is able to vindicate sensuous and material nature by making it appear dignified, and that paying attention to the language of sacrifice allows us to see how his conception of freedom is significantly different from that of Kant. Finally, I discuss how art can institute real political freedom if artistic creation produces nothing but semblance.
sacrifice, modernity, aesthetics, critique
2704-8152
177-199
Varslev-Pedersen, Cæcilie
bbd69439-0bc9-403f-ac62-6b6759218911
Varslev-Pedersen, Cæcilie
bbd69439-0bc9-403f-ac62-6b6759218911

Varslev-Pedersen, Cæcilie (2023) The matter of freedom: Schiller on sacrificial rationality and the emancipatory potential of art. Symphilosophie - International Journal of Philosophical Romanticism, 5, 177-199.

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article examines Friedrich Schiller’s view of freedom associated with artistic creation and practice. First, I show that when Schiller attempts to understand the violent outcome of the French Revolution, he finds that modern reason has performed a ‘sacrifice of the natural,’i.e., it has sacrificed sensuous materiality, need, desire, feeling, and imagination for the sake of progress of civilization. I argue that Schiller’s conception of freedom in artistic creation ought to be understood as a realm beyond the violent ‘sacrifice of the natural,’ since art is able to vindicate sensuous and material nature by making it appear dignified, and that paying attention to the language of sacrifice allows us to see how his conception of freedom is significantly different from that of Kant. Finally, I discuss how art can institute real political freedom if artistic creation produces nothing but semblance.

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15-Varslev-FINAL-03-01-24-177-199 - Version of Record
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Published date: 31 December 2023
Keywords: sacrifice, modernity, aesthetics, critique

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 486180
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/486180
ISSN: 2704-8152
PURE UUID: 30e7f74a-c69f-4b88-abd6-4f0e6f914292
ORCID for Cæcilie Varslev-Pedersen: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7309-5010

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Date deposited: 12 Jan 2024 17:37
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:18

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Contributors

Author: Cæcilie Varslev-Pedersen ORCID iD

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