"In “On the Aesthetic Education of Man”, Friedrich Schiller develops an art theory asserting that aesthetics
can resolve human conflict while empowering the individual. However, it is often unclear as to how
Schiller’s proposals are to be practiced and achieved. I claim that Schiller’s theory appropriates alchemical
concepts, thereby identifying a cause for his theory’s obtuseness, and clarifying how the processes are to be
understood. Schiller’s appropriation of alchemy is evinced through an overview of Schiller’s claims, evidence
that alchemical information was available to Schiller, and a demonstration that the features and goals of
Schiller’s theory are similar to those of the alchemists’ processes. From there, I support the claim that Schiller
employs alchemical concepts by identifying how the underlying structure of his assertions, and his diction,
correspond with the alchemists’ preparatio, putrefactio, and hierogamy."
