The Philosophy of F.W.J. Schelling

Abstract

The philosophy of Schelling, prince of the romantics, has long been overshadowed by that of his contemporary Hegel. Werner Marx's welcome reassessment provides an appreciation of Schelling's unique thought and its relevance for present-day philosophical issues. The first of three essays draws an enlightening comparison between Schelling's conception of history and that of the contemporary social philosopher Jurgen Habermas. The second compares Schelling's System of Transcendental Idealism and Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. In the third, Marx demonstrates that Schelling resolved the problem of the relation of freedom to necessity through a metaphysics of the absolute.