"Sapere aude". Schiller's 'Letters to Prince von Augustenburg' and Kant's 'Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?'

This chapter aims to contribute to the history of the reception of Kant's motto for the Enlightenment ("Sapere aude") by investigating the relationship between Schiller and Prince von Augustenburg as represented in the six letters the former wrote to the latter between February and December 1793. After tracing a short history of this neglected correspondence, it reconstructs Schiller's confrontation with Kant's philosophy with respect to the notion of 'Aufklärung' and the connected theme of the courage of knowledge. It also analyzes Georg Friedrich Meier's theory of prejudices in order to stress its importance for Kant's theory of enlightenment.