This book is a study of central aspects of Weimar Classicism, written in the light of Ernst Cassirer s cultural theory. It provides a close reading of key texts, ranging across Goethe and Schiller s uvre as a whole, from their (philosophical) poems through their drama, prose-writing, and theoretical reflections on cultural and scientific topics. The work seeks to demonstrate the attested (but hitherto largely unanalysed) aesthetic power at the very heart of their writings, which in turn underpins their epistemological and ethical significance. The main theme of Weimar Classicism is...