Study On Schiller′s Theory Of Play

The"ideal humanity"that is upheld by Schiller is concerned about people's aesthetic experience, which means uplifting the life experience of people from the general reality into the aesthetic reality, so that pure life could savor the sense of beauty. And this is a huge contribution to the spiritual life of human beings. This article attemps to explore the freedom and integrity of human beings from the perspective of"play", highlighting Schiller's concern about social reality, and his pursuit to transform the humanity in the world with aesthetics, so that to conduct an in-depth and comprehensive exploration for Schiller's aesthetic views through the research about the intrinsic relationship among play, beauty and humanity. The essay consists of four chapters, except for the part of introduction and a brief conclusion."Play" is an important concept in Schiller's aesthetic theory. Beauty is closely related to human being themselves, and it is the object of the game impulse; in addition, the integrity of humanity in terms of their human nature cannot do without aesthetics. The first part of the article mainly focuses on the historical conditions and an humanistic interpretation of the philosophical concept of Schiller's theory of "play".When the emotional function and the rational function of human beings work on their own parts, the interaction between the sensuous impulse and the formal impulse would give rise to a new form of impulse in human body, which is called "play impulse" by Schiller. The second part of this paper aims to achieve a deeper understanding of the intent and essence of Schiller's theory of play though an further study of Schiller's aesthetic works.In his study of the relationship between "Human being" and "beauty", Schiller maintains that a person plays only when he becomes a real human being; and only when a person plays does he become a complete human being. So the third part goes on to explore Schiller's viewpoint on "Human Nature" after the detailed and profound interpretation of the theory of"play". Aesthetics brings social harmony and also makes it deep-rooted in the heart of everyone. Beauty will be the only guide in uplifting human nature from reality to the ideal, and further leads human beings to the ultimate goal of freedom.Since Schiller's aesthetic theory is so far-reaching, the last part of this essay deals with its impact to uncover the enlightenment it brings to human society. Schiller has always stood high on the degree of humane care, and his call for the spirit of ancient Greek and Roman era is in no way an expectation for the return only in artistic forms. More importantly, it's an expectation for the healhy human nature. In some way, human freedom and integrity is the eternal pursuit of mankind.