''On Grace and Dignity'' (''ÜberOriginally spelled ''Ueber''. Anmut und Würde'') is an influential philosophical essay published by

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

in the journal '' Neue Thalia'' in mid June 1793. It is his first major support for the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, critically assessing the treatments of ethics and aesthetics in Kant's ''

Critique of Judgment The ''Critique of Judgment'' (german: Kritik der Urteilskraft), also translated as the ''Critique of the Power of Judgment'', is a 1790 book by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Sometimes referred to as the "third critique," the ''Critique o ...

''. In it, in view of man's dual nature as a rational and emotional being, Schiller explained human beauty in terms of Grace (''Anmut'') and Dignity (''Würde''). His emphatic answer to this was a Kantian

dualism Dualism most commonly refers to: * Mind–body dualism, a philosophical view which holds that mental phenomena are, at least in certain respects, not physical phenomena, or that the mind and the body are distinct and separable from one another ** ...

reconciling the physical and spiritual-rational nature in man, in a synthesis seen in 'beautiful souls' ('' Schöne Seelen'') in which duty and nature harmonised. It thus paved the way for Schiller's philosophical and aesthetic masterwork ''

On the Aesthetic Education of Man Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

''.

References

Philosophy essays Works by Friedrich Schiller Works originally published in German magazines Works originally published in literary magazines 1793 documents {{philo-essay-stub