THE CHESSBOARD ON THE SARCOPHAGUS: A HERMENEUTIC-DIALECTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE COLLAPSE OF FREE WILL IN MORITZ RETZSCH'S 'THE CHESS PLAYERS'
Abstract
The painting The Chess Players (1831), by Retzsch, is configured as an iconographic allegory about the human condition, extrapolating traditional theological duality to illustrate the fracture of free will. This was a qualitative research based on hermeneutic-dialectical analysis. The analytical path was structured into three axes (Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis), using classic works by Plato (The Republic), Kant (Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals), Spinoza (Ethics), Nietzsche (On the Genealogy of Morality and Twilight of the Idols), Sartre (Being and Nothingness), and Camus (The Myth of Sisyphus) to decode and tension the symbolic elements of the painting. Hermeneutics revealed distinct perspectives: the inertia of the Platonic angel and the weight of Kantian moral duty on the human side were identified; Mephistopheles' domain as representative of Spinozian determinism and Nietzsche's "master morality"; and the youth's isolation facing the sarcophagus as the materialization of Sartrean anguish and Camusian absurdity. The dialectical clash evidenced the crushing of human agency. The demand of the moral imperative collapsed before the irresistible force of matter and instincts, abandoning the individual to the vertigo of their own responsibility in a scenario where the end is sealed. It was inferred that the artwork transcends the 19th century, visually anticipating the crisis of modern subjectivity. The inescapable finitude (the sarcophagus) nullifies metaphysical illusions of salvation, leaving the subject solely with conscious revolt facing their destiny.
Author Biographies
Graduate in Nursing from Centro Universitário CESMAC. Postgraduate (Lato Sensu) in Hemotherapy and Cellular Therapy at Universidade Iguaçu (UNIG).
Undergraduate student in Pedagogy at the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL).
Graduate in Psychology (CESMAC). Postgraduate (Lato Sensu) in Psychology and Psychosocial Action from the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL).
Graduate in Law (PROCESSUS) and History (IESA). Master’s Degree in Law (USC and CEP/IDP) and Master’s student in History at the State University of Southwest Bahia (UESB).
Graduate in Chemistry from the State University of Goiás (UEG). Master’s student in Education Sciences at Universidad Del Sol (UNADES).
Graduate in Chemistry (UFRPE), Mathematics (EDUCA+) and Pedagogy (UNICV). Master’s Degree holder and PhD candidate in Education Sciences at Word Ecumenical University (WEU).
Graduate in Theology (UNILASALLE), Pedagogy (UFMA) and History (FUNIP). Master’s Degree in Theology from Faculdade EST.
Graduate in Pedagogy (FAS). Undergraduate student in History (IFAM), Portuguese Language and Literature (UNIASSELVI) and Philosophy at Faculdade Faveni.
Graduate in Pedagogy from the State University of Goiás (UEG) and in Physical Education from Faculdade Albert Einstein de São Paulo (FAESP). Master’s student in Education Sciences at Universidad Del Sol (UNADES).
Graduate in Biological Sciences (UFAL). Master’s and PhD in Chemistry and Biotechnology from the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL).
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