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The Grounding of Positive Philosophy
The Berlin Lectures
A volume in the SUNY Series in Contemporary Continental
Philosophy
and SUNY Series in Hegelian Studies)
The first English translation of
Schelling's final "existential system."
"With the publication of this translation, the last significant
barrier to the reception of Schelling by the English-speaking
philosophical community has been removed. As Bruce Matthews
shows in his powerful introductory essay, Schelling's
philosophical confrontation with Kant and Hegel gave birth to an
utterly new and independent way of doing philosophy, one
grounded not in the concept but in the intuition of existence
itself."
-- Joseph P. Lawrence, College of the Holy Cross
The Berlin lectures in The Grounding of Positive Philosophy,
appearing here for the first time in English, advance
Schelling's final "existential system" as an alternative to
modernity's reduction of philosophy to a purely formal science
of reason. The onetime protégé of Fichte and benefactor of
Hegel, Schelling accuses German Idealism of dealing "with the
world of lived experience just as a surgeon who promises to cure
your ailing leg by amputating it." Schelling's appeal in Berlin
for a positive, existential philosophy found an interested
audience in Kierkegaard, Engels, Feuerbach, Marx, and Bakunin.
His account of the ecstatic nature of existence and reason
proved to be decisive for the work of Paul Tillich and Martin
Heidegger. Also, Schelling's critique of reason's quixotic
attempt at self-grounding anticipates similar criticisms leveled
by poststructuralism, but without sacrificing philosophy's power
to provide a positive account of truth and meaning. The Berlin
lectures provide fascinating insight into the thought processes
of one of the most provocative yet least understood thinkers of
nineteenth-century German philosophy.
"Despite a strong resurgence of interest in his philosophy,
Schelling's final Berlin lectures have remained unavailable to
English-reading audiences. At long last, in Bruce Matthews's
able hands, this lacuna has been remedied. This is a strong and
rigorous translation of the inaugural lectures, which, along
with Matthews's compelling and informative introduction, not
only provides readers with a taste of these remarkable and
unduly neglected lecture courses, but also provides an overview
of Schelling's final project of positive philosophy and
philosophical religion. These lectures are critical to a full
appreciation of Schelling's accomplishments."
-- Jason M. Wirth, author of The Conspiracy of Life:
Meditations on
Schelling and His Time
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