The present study purposed to renew the perception of play (Spiel) basically from the position of philosophical analysis and to take play as an educational medium for drawing out the beautiful nature of human beings. Accordingly, this study attempted ...
The present study purposed to renew the perception of play (Spiel) basically from the position of philosophical analysis and to take play as an educational medium for drawing out the beautiful nature of human beings. Accordingly, this study attempted to prove that, in combination with art and education, ‘play (Spiel)’ can derive the genuine beauty (Scho¨nheit) of human nature and to discuss the implementation of aesthetic education using play as a medium. Also, this study tried to graft together Oriental play and aesthetic education with European play theory.
Because human nature goes well with the nature of play, this study discussed the philosophical base of Play(Spiel) education focused on the ontological value of Play(Spiel), aesthetic education as a philosophy of Play(Spiel) education, and how to implement aesthetic education. Key theories for achieving the goals of this study are Gadamer’s (H. -G. Gadamer, 1900-2002) play theory and Schiller’s (J. C. F. von Schiller, 1759-1805) Play(Spiel) theory. The ontological characteristic of Play(Spiel) explained by Gadamer was utilized as a ground theory for the feasibility of the philosophy of aesthetic education. That is, people are put in the world of imagination mentioned by Schiller through Play(Spiel) experience, and the repetition of Play(Spiel) experience engenders a certain aesthetic instinct in people’s inner world. Aesthetic instinct is an instinctive force to pursue perfect humanity through beautiful human nature. Play(Spiel) experience gives an opportunity to draw out an instinctive force to pursue the world of aesthetic beauty from playing people.
Aesthetic education emphasized by Schiller is the pursuit of perfect humanity by Play(Spiel) instinct (Spieltrieb), which is one of human natures, and this is realized by creating the imagination (Schein) of beauty. He maintained that Play(Spiel) instinct is harmony between physical and sensuous instinct (material instinct, der sinnliche Trieb) arising in the inner mind and formative instinct (der Formtrieb), which is rational and logical instinct. According to Gadamer’s expression, the course of aesthetic education is executed through development from incident (vitality, Geschehen) to self-expression (Selbstdarstellung) and structure (Gebilde). In the present study, the three concepts as ontological patterns were applied to each type of play as a developmental stage of aesthetic education.
In this context, we assigned the meaning of the realization of humanity as the philosophy of aesthetic education to the three ontological patterns of Play(Spiel) derived from Gadamer’s Play(Spiel) theory. Unusual experience that playing people have is nothing but aesthetic experience. An incident (vitality phenomenon) takes place through common sense(Sensus Communis) as human nature, and it meets an aesthetic being and becomes a play. The meeting is expressed in a certain way and it is called aesthetic expression, and aesthetic expression is the initiation of existence. A change arising from the existence is a fundamental force for the implementation of humanity pursued by Schiller, and becomes a motive of aesthetic instinct. It is the formation of aesthetic human and, furthermore, opening the horizon of analytic life.
The pursuit of convenience and utility, which is considered a general tendency of contemporary society has changed human beings to be more dependent on machines. Moreover, with the increasing importance of machines and technologies in human life, the problem of the loss of humanity comes to have an important meaning in cultural understanding and cultural education. Thus, for the restoration of humanity, cultural education promotes creative culture and all-round education under the slogan ‘Harmony between the past and the present,’ but hindrances such as education oriented to the entrance examination are daunting the nature of cultural education. An analysis of the philosophical hermeneutics on the concept of play(Spiel) will provide a frame for diagnosing today’s cultural phenomena from the positive and negative aspects, and give an opportunity to review the true image of human beings that we can pursue.
Play(Spiel) has its whole meaning as a medium of aesthetic education for people, and creative expression through play contains itself artistry. Because the nature of Play(Spiel) is freedom, people can reach an aesthetic state most naturally. Freedom in play is a driving force for creating natural beauty, and draws out aesthetic beauty immanent in the inner world of human beings. In this way, aesthetic education using play as a medium will implement the beauty of human nature and promote aesthetic culture. Furthermore, it will open a new horizon of creative life to us. We expect that aesthetic education using play as a medium would be activated in the 21^(st) century.