Mohammad Reza Rikhtegaran; Mohammad Bagher Ghomi
Volume 8, Issue 1 , March 2010, , Pages 57-80
Abstract
In his many works about aesthetics, morality and philosophy, Schiller always has a unique concern: radical separation or contrast that can be seen in culture, society and politics. ...
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In his many works about aesthetics, morality and philosophy, Schiller always has a unique concern: radical separation or contrast that can be seen in culture, society and politics. The basis of this contrast is the same with the old metaphysical contrast between matter and form. On the other hand, he thinks that the basis of all these contrasts should be searched in human being. Modern man, opposing ancient Greek`s, is a broken one since some parts of him is always dominating over his other parts. As Schiller believes, we have two drives: sense drive and form drive. The first represents man`s materialistic dimension and the second represents intellectual and moral dimension. But there is a third drive, the play drive, that with which Schiller tries to solve the problem of contrast between matter and form or sense and reason. It is this that is our question here: How can Schiller solve this big problem of contrast with the concept of play? With this concept, he goes beyond that duality. The human being can be a human being only when he goes beyond these two drives and reaches to the third. This third drive is play drive and the perfect man is a man who plays. The play drive is not the equilibrium of those two drives but is that which goes beyond them. It is with this drive that a man can go beyond sense and reason and instead of feeling or thinking can play. It is beauty that leads human being to play drive; man plays only with beauty and this beauty is nothing except "freedom of semblance".
