Identity Philosophy and the Philosophy of Art

This chapter explores Schelling’s turn to reason following the System. It contends that the problem with the work of art has to do with the fact that it remains an object, opposed to the subject. As such, it cannot truly present the absolute. The chapter traces the development of Schelling’s thought in the identity philosophy, beginning with the Darstellung meines Systems der Philosophie (1801), and argues that in spite of decisive differences between this work and earlier writings, the Darstellung does not represent a rupture in Schelling’s thought. The chapter shows that the Fernere Darstellung and Schelling’s dialogue, Bruno, represent a return to some of Schelling’s earliest ideas. It concludes with an investigation of the role of art in the identity philosophy, and suggests that although Schelling considers the artwork and the imagination to be less significant than reason, he implicitly accords to them a certain superiority over reason.

Absolute (philosophy) · Aesthetics · Epistemology · Identity (music) · Linguistics · Object (grammar) · Subject (documents) · Computer Science · Critical Theory and Philosophy · German Social Sciences and History · Philosophy · Philosophy, Science, and History