Subscribe to get parts 1-3 of this discussion ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Mark and Wes conclude with some close reading of Part 6 of System of Transcendental Idealism (1800), section 3: "Relation of Art to Philosophy." What exactly is self-consciousness, and how to we achieve it? We try to really figure out Schelling's story about art in light of his general Continue Reading …
Ep. 322: Schelling on Art vs. Nature (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1-3 of this discussion now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content. Continuing (sans Seth) from part one on "On the Relation Between the Plastic Arts and Nature" (1807) and Part 6 of System of Transcendental Idealism (1800). We finish up the 1807 speech by talking about sculpture vs. painting and then move on to this penultimate chapter of this Continue Reading …
Ep. 322: Schelling on Art vs. Nature (Part Three for Supporters)
Mark and Wes conclude with some close reading of Part 6 of System of Transcendental Idealism (1800), section 3: "Relation of Art to Philosophy." What exactly is self-consciousness, and how to we achieve it? We try to really figure out Schelling's story about art in light of his general picture of the function of philosophy as revelatory of the self. Why should that even be Continue Reading …
Ep. 322: Schelling on Art vs. Nature (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing (sans Seth) from part one on "On the Relation Between the Plastic Arts and Nature" (1807) and Part 6 of System of Transcendental Idealism (1800). We finish up the 1807 speech by talking about sculpture vs. painting and then move on to this penultimate chapter of this early, systematic, seminal work whose beginning we treated in episodes 273 and 274. The System of Continue Reading …
Ep. 322: Schelling on Art vs. Nature (Part One for Supporters)
Discussing Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling's "On the Relation Between the Plastic Arts and Nature" (1807) and Part 6 of System of Transcendental Idealism (1800), featuring Mark, Wes, Dylan, and Seth. Is the goal of art to imitate nature? Schelling says "sort of." It's not supposed to just be a copy, but is supposed to convey the true inner nature of its subject: It copies Continue Reading …
Ep. 321: August Schlegel on Beauty (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive Nightcap discussion largely about philosophy of technology. Listen to a preview.. Continuing from part one on our excerpt from Theory of Art (ca. 1800), we get more into the text, covering Schlegel's critique of various elements of Kant's philosophy of art. We start with the distinction between Continue Reading …
Ep. 321: August Schlegel on Beauty (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including (next week) a supporter-exclusive Nightcap discussion. Covering the elder Schlegel brother's Theory of Art (ca. 1800), as excerpted in Theory as Practice: A Critical Anthology of Early German Romantic Writings. Sponsors: Get 15% off a newly cheaper annual membership at Continue Reading …
Ep. 321: August Schlegel on Beauty (Part Two for Supporters)
Continuing from part one on our excerpt from Theory of Art (ca. 1800), we get more into the text, covering Schlegel's critique of various elements of Kant's philosophy of art. We start with the distinction between free and accessory beauty: Are there some perceptions of beauty that are entirely divorced from a notion of the purpose or type of thing that we're perceiving as Continue Reading …
Ep. 321: August Schlegel on Beauty (Part One for Supporters)
Covering the elder Schlegel brother's Theory of Art (ca. 1800), as excerpted in Theory as Practice: A Critical Anthology of Early German Romantic Writings. August Wilhelm Schlegel was five years older than Friedrich, and was also a well known art critic of his time. This text is a Romantic response to Kant's Third Critique, and we looked back at Kant's comments on the Continue Reading …
Ep. 320: Friedrich Schlegel on Romanticism (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive part three. Listen to a preview.. We continue from part one on Schlegel's "Dialogue on Poesy" (1799) and "Concerning the Essence of Critique" (1804). How can Romantic art always aim at some common source of our humanity yet also require originality? How can having some sort of common mythology Continue Reading …
Ep. 320: Friedrich Schlegel on Romanticism (Part Three for Supporters)
Mark and Wes conclude our discussion of the younger Schlegel brother by going through more of his critical fragments, largely published in 1797 in the journal Lyceum tier schonen Kunste. Start with parts one and two. We relate appreciation of art to appreciation of purposiveness a la Shaftesbury, try to figure out what Schlegel means by "wit," the place of otherness in a Continue Reading …
Ep. 320: Friedrich Schlegel on Romanticism (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including (next week) a supporter-exclusive part three to this discussion. On selected fragments from 1797-1801, "Dialogue on Poesy" (1799), and "Concerning the Essence of Critique" (1804). What makes art "Romantic"? Friedrich Schlegel (and his older brother August Schlegel, whom we'll read Continue Reading …
Ep. 320: Friedrich Schlegel on Romanticism (Part Two for Supporters)
We continue on Schlegel's "Dialogue on Poesy" (1799) and "Concerning the Essence of Critique" (1804). How can Romantic art always aim at some common source of our humanity yet also require originality? How can having some sort of common mythology help artists be original in this way, and how can we embrace mythology as modern people? We try to figure out this "Speech on Continue Reading …
Ep. 320: Friedrich Schlegel on Romanticism (Part One for Supporters)
On selected fragments from 1797-1801, "Dialogue on Poesy" (1799), and "Concerning the Essence of Critique" (1804). What makes art "Romantic"? Friedrich Schlegel (and his older brother August Schlegel, whom we'll read for ep. 321) were both art critics based in Jena, Germany, which was also where Fichte, Schelling, Schiller, and even Goethe were based at the time. The Continue Reading …
Ep. 319: Schiller on Experiencing Beauty (Part Three for Supporters)
In our final word on Friedrich Schiller's On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), we cover letters 24-27 in more detail than we had time for in supposedly finishing with this reading in part two. Schiller talks first about hypothetical Reason, where Reason doesn't actually pull us toward Kantian morality, but just lets us get what we want more effectively. By granting us Continue Reading …
Ep. 319: Schiller on Experiencing Beauty (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including a supporter-exclusive part three to this discussion. On the second half of Friedrich Schiller's On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), with Mark, Wes, and Dylan. You might want to listen to ep. 318 first. While the overall argument is still that an education in appreciating art Continue Reading …
Ep. 319: Schiller on Experiencing Beauty (Part One for Supporters)
On the second half of Friedrich Schiller's On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), with Mark, Wes, and Dylan. You might want to listen to ep. 318 first. While the overall argument is still that an education in appreciating art can transform the masses from desire-driven savages into rational beings worthy of representative government, starting around letter 14 through the Continue Reading …
Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part Two)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this ad-free, plus a supporter-exclusive part three. Listen to a preview.. We continue (from part one) working through letters 1-15 of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), helped by Markus Reuter. By the end of this, we get a clearer picture of what Schiller means by the experience of Beauty. We have a sensuous drive on the one hand Continue Reading …
Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part One)
Subscribe to get parts 1 and 2 of this now, ad-free, plus tons of bonus content including an exclusive part three to this discussion. Can art make us better people? Musician Markus Reuter joins Mark, Wes, and Seth to discussion the first half of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795). Schiller was a famous poet of early German Romanticism, and this book is partly Continue Reading …
Ep. 318: Friedrich Schiller on the Civilizing Potential of Art (Part Two for Supporters)
We continue (from part one) working through letters 1-15 of On the Aesthetic Education of Man (1795), helped by Markus Reuter. By the end of this, we get a clearer picture of what Schiller means by the experience of Beauty. We have a sensuous drive on the one hand to fill our experience with material stuff, and a form drive on the other that raises us up (a la Plato) to wonder Continue Reading …