Abstract
For a long time, German Romanticism was regarded as politically dangerous because of its aestheticism. The modern concepts of state and legal right based on Enlightenment rationalism have led to extremely irrational and inhuman consequences in political practice. This prompted early romantics to oppose the artificial and destructive nature of knowledge embedded in the Enlightenment rationalism, as well as the blunt political principles derived from such understanding. Schlegel's interpretation and development of Kant's critique of aesthetic judgment demonstrate that aesthetic experience is a vital form of sensory education and that shaping the senses through aesthetic experience aids in realizing the goal of cultivating human nature. In this regard, a person's rationality and will can develop in harmony with their realistic sensory experience, thus forming a self-consciousness grounded in intersubjectivity and common sense. The educational function and political significance of aesthetic experience in shaping people's senses and self-consciousness are fully reflected in Schlegel's analysis of the concept of republicanism.
Keywords
Friedrich Schlegel, German Romanticism, aesthetic experience, formation, common sense, Republicanism
First Page
129
Last Page
139
Recommended Citation
Luo, Jiu. 2025. "“Poetry Is a Discourse of Republicanism”: On Friedrich Schlegel's Idea of Aesthetical Politics." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (1): pp.129-139. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss1/12
