Philosophie des Schönen als politische Anthropologie. Schillers Augustenburger Briefe und die Briefe über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen

This paper deals with Schiller’s political thought since 1793, particularly focusing on the Augustenburger Briefe and the essay Ueber die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen. Despite their well known genealogic relationship, scholarship has until now seen the former as a mere antecedent of the lat- ter, without giving them due attention. It is only in recent times that scholars have begun extensively investigating the Augustenburger Briefe, and this essay is intended to follow this new path. In this way, I will show that 1) they are an autonomous work, which is worth dealing with independently of the later essay; 2) they present philosophical ideas which have not lost their validity; 3) they are not dispensable for those who work on the Briefe über die ästhetische Erziehung des Menschen.