Keeping Narcissism at Bay: Kant and Schiller on the Sublime
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Date
2010
Authors
Mathäs, Alexander
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
This essay considers the sublime as a veiled form of narcissism. Both narcissism and the sublime
test and reveal the limits of the concept of the self and both can be viewed as attempts to
transcend the borders of the self. Yet while narcissism has been defined as a “failure of spiritual
ascent” (Hadot), the sublime has been used to transcend the limitations of the self by pointing
to its infinite potential. The essay explores how the sublime in Immanuel Kant’s and Friedrich
Schiller’s aesthetics relies on narcissistic impulses by creating a male inner self and protecting it
from the stigma of vanity. I propose that their use of this aesthetic category helped objectify an
essentially subjectivist aesthetics. Yet while Schiller follows Kant in deriding the sensual aspects
of human nature as egotistical and amoral, Schiller’s dramas also challenge some of the
Kantian premises. When Schiller’s protagonists sacrifice lives in the service of ethical ideas, the
sublime’s oppressive spirit reveals itself.
Description
25 pages
Keywords
Citation
Mathäs, A. (2010). Keeping Narcissism at Bay: Kant and Schiller on the Sublime. Konturen, 3(1), 19-44. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5399/uo/konturen.3.1.1371