«Was bleibet aber, stiften die Dichter». Hölderlin e la destinazione dell’uomo

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the concept of “vocation of man” (Bestimmung des Menschen) characterizes the thought on the human being and on the meaning of existence. It involves many disciplines, i.e. theology, ethics, philosophy of history and aesthetics. Hölderlin is at the apex of this complex theoretical process: he deals with all these issues and proposes his peculiar solution, which entrusts the poet with the hard task to answer man’s quest for meaning.