The Grounding of Positive Philosophy: The Berlin Lectures (Suny Series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy) - Softcover

Schelling, F. W. J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791471306 ISBN 13: 9780791471302

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 2008

Synopsis

The first English translation of Schelling's final "existential system."

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.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Matthews is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bard High School Early College. He is translator of Schelling's The Grounding of Positive Philosophy: The Berlin Lectures, also published by SUNY Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791471306
• ISBN 13: 9780791471302
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 244