Page:History of Modern Philosophy (Falckenberg).djvu/440

 4«S SCHILLER. the two in harmonious co-operation. Where appetite seeks after satisfaction, and where the strict idea of duty rules, there only half the man is occupied ; neither lust nor moral worth is beautiful. In order that beauty and grace may arise, the matter-impulse and the form-impulse, or sensibility and reason, must manifest themselves uniformly and in harmony. Only when he " plays " is man wholly and entirely man ; only through art is the development of humanity possible. The discernment of the fact that the beautiful brings into equilibrium the two fundamental im- pulses, one or the other of which preponderates in sensuous desire and in moral volition, does not of itself decide the relative rank of artistic and moral activity. The recogni- tion of this mediating position of art may be connected with the view that it forms a transitional stage toward and a means of education for morality, as well as with the other, that in it human nature attains its completion. Evidence of both views can be found in Schiller's writings. At first he favors the Kantian moralism, which admits nothing higher than the good will, and sets art the task of educa- ting men up to morality by ennobling their natural im- pulses. Gradually, however, aesthetic activity changes in his view from a preparation for morality into the ultimate goal of human endeavor. Peaceful reconciliation is of more worth than the spirit's hardly gained victory in the conflict with the sensibility; fine feeling is more than rational voli- tion ; the highest ideal is the beautiful soul, in which incli- nation not merely obeys the command of duty, but antici- pates it (cf. p. 314).