Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
Schelling as depicted in 1835
Born(1775-01-27)27 January 1775
Leonberg, Württemberg, Holy Roman Empire
Died20 August 1854(1854-08-20) (aged 79)
Bad Ragaz, Switzerland
EducationTübinger Stift, University of Tübingen
(1790–1795: M.A., 1792; Licentiate, 1795)
Leipzig University
(1797; no degree)
Era19th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolContinental philosophy
German idealism
Post-Kantian transcendental idealism[1] (before 1800)
Objective idealism
Absolute idealism (after 1800)[2]
Naturphilosophie (a combination of transcendental realism and transcendental naturalism)[3]
Jena Romanticism
Romanticism in science
Correspondence theory of truth[4]
InstitutionsUniversity of Jena
University of Würzburg
University of Erlangen
University of Munich
University of Berlin
ThesisDe Marcione Paulinarum epistolarum emendatore (On Marcion as emendator of the Pauline letters) (1795)
Doctoral advisorsGottlob Christian Storr
Main interests
Naturphilosophie, natural science, aesthetics, metaphysics, epistemology, Christian philosophy
Notable ideas
List
Signature

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (German: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈjoːzɛf ˈʃɛlɪŋ]; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him between Johann Gottlieb Fichte, his mentor in his early years, and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, his one-time university roommate, early friend, and later rival. Interpreting Schelling's philosophy is regarded as difficult because of its evolving nature.

Schelling's thought in the main has been neglected, especially in the English-speaking world. An important factor in this was the ascendancy of Hegel, whose mature works portray Schelling as a mere footnote in the development of idealism. Schelling's Naturphilosophie also has been attacked by scientists for its tendency to analogize and lack of empirical orientation.[8] However, some later philosophers have shown interest in re-examining Schelling's body of work.

  1. ^ Nectarios G. Limnatis, German Idealism and the Problem of Knowledge: Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel, Springer, 2008, pp. 166, 177.
  2. ^ Frederick Beiser, German Idealism: The Struggle Against Subjectivism, 1781–1801, Harvard University Press, 2002, p. 470.
  3. ^ Frederick Beiser, German Idealism: The Struggle Against Subjectivism, 1781–1801, Harvard University Press, 2002, p. 483.
  4. ^ Joel Harter, Coleridge's Philosophy of Faith: Symbol, Allegory, and Hermeneutics, Mohr Siebeck, 2011, p. 91.
  5. ^ The term absoluter Idealismus occurs for the first time in 1802. See Ueber das Verhältniß der Naturphilosophie zur Philosophie überhaupt or Vorlesungen über die Methode des academischen Studiums.
  6. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, Ideen zu einer Philosophie der Natur als Einleitung in das Studium dieser Wissenschaft (1797): Second Book, ch. 7: "Philosophie der Chemie überhaupt".
  7. ^ Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling by Saitya Brata Das in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011.
  8. ^ Bowie, Andrew (19 July 2012). "Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.