„Vivi con il tuo secolo, ma non essere la sua creatura“. Schiller e Nietzsche fisiologi della cultura

This paper examines the affinities of Nietzsche’s early production with Schiller’s cultural theory and philosophy of history. Although Schiller and Nietzsche are usually considered as being poles apart, they actually share a philosophical common ground: both diagnose a cultural crisis in their respective historical contexts and both suggest the development of an aesthetic antidote against it. Through a parallel reading of Schiller’s theoretical writings and Nietzsche’s Untimely Meditations the paper points out the main convergences of the two thoughts, with a special attention being paid to the concept of Bildung and to the theory and practice of historiography. In particular, the analysis shows how Schiller’s anthropology, his theory of the beautiful and the sublime as well as the social and cultural-critical dimension of his Aesthetical Letters played a central role in Nietzsche’s early philosophy.