First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature

F. W. J. Schelling, Keith R. Peterson

Description

Appearing here in English for the first time, this is F. W. J. Schelling's vital document of the attempts of German Idealism and Romanticism to recover a deeper relationship between humanity and nature and to overcome the separation between mind and matter induced by the modern reductivist program. Written in 1799 and building upon his earlier work, First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature provides the most inclusive exposition of Schelling's philosophy of the natural world. He presents a startlingly contemporary model of an expanding and contracting universe; a unified theory of electricity, gravity magnetism, and chemical forces; and, perhaps most importantly, a conception of nature as a living and organic whole.

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Translator's Introduction

The Primacy of the Postulate
From Postulate to Deduction
Transcendental Deductions and The Idea of Nature
Logogenesis, Construction, and Potency in the Philosophy of Nature
Conclusion
Works Cited

Translator's Note

Title Page of Schelling 1799 Edition

Foreword to Schelling 1799 Edition

Outline of the Whole

First Division

I. The Unconditioned in Nature
II. The Original Qualities and Actants in Nature
III. Actants and Their Combinations
IV. Inhibition and Stages of Development
V. Deduction of the Dynamic Series of Stages

Second Division

First System
Second System
Third Possible System
Conclusions

Third Division

I. On the Concept of Excitability
II. Deduction of Organic Functions from the Concept of Excitability
III. The Graduated Series of Stages in Nature
Appendix to Chapter III
IV. General Theory of the Chemical Process
V. The Theater of the Dynamic Organization of the Universe

Introduction to the Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature, or, On the Concept of Speculative Physics and the Internal Organization of a System of this Science (1799)

§1. What we call Philosophy of Nature is a Necessary Science in the System of Knowledge
§2. Scientific Character of the Philosophy of Nature
§3. Philosophy of Nature is Speculative Physics
§4. On the Possibility of Speculative Physics
§5. On a System of Speculative Physics in General
§6. Internal Organization of the System of Speculative Physics

Appendix: Scientific Authors

Notes

English-German Glossary

German-English Glossary

Page Concordance

Index

Sujets

• Philosophy

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791485514
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

F.W.J.Schelling Translated and with an Introduction and Notes by Keith R. Peterson

First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature

A VOLUME IN THE SUNY SERIES IN CONTEMPORARY CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY

F O S IRST UTLINE OF A YSTEM OF THE P N HILOSOPHY OF ATURE

SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy Dennis J. Schmidt, editor

F IRST O UTLINE OF A S YSTEM OF THE P N HILOSOPHY OF ATURE  F. W. J. Schelling

Translated and with an Introduction and Notes by Keith R. Peterson

State University of New York Press

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2004 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, 1775–1854. [Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie. English] First outline of a system of the philosophy of nature / Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling ; translated and with an introduction and notes by Keith R. Peterson. p. cm. — (SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-7914-6003-7 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-6004-5 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Philosophy of nature. I. Peterson, Keith R. II. Title. III. Series

BD581.S2613

2004

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2003059028

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

CONTENTS

Translator’s Introduction The Primacy of the Postulate From Postulate to Deduction Transcendental Deductions and The Idea of Nature Logogenesis, Construction, and Potency in the Philosophy of Nature Conclusion Works Cited

Translator’s Note

Title Page of Schelling 1799 Edition

Foreword to Schelling 1799 Edition

Outline of the Whole

First Division I. The Unconditioned in Nature II. The Original Qualities and Actants in Nature III. Actants and Their Combinations IV. Inhibition and Stages of Development V. Deduction of the Dynamic Series of Stages

Second Division First System Second System Third Possible System Conclusions

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xi xiii xviii xxii

xxvii xxxii xxxiii

xxxvii

1

3

5

13 13 19 28 35 53

71 73 74 78 94

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Contents

Third Division I. On the Concept of Excitability II. Deduction of Organic Functions from the Concept of Excitability III. The Graduated Series of Stages in Nature Appendix to Chapter III IV. General Theory of the Chemical Process V. The Theater of the Dynamic Organization of the Universe

Introduction to the Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature, or, On the Concept of Speculative Physics and the Internal Organization of a System of this Science (1799) §1. What we call Philosophy of Nature is a Necessary Science in the System of Knowledge §2. Scientific Character of the Philosophy of Nature §3. Philosophy of Nature is Speculative Physics §4. On the Possibility of Speculative Physics §5. On a System of Speculative Physics in General §6. Internal Organization of the System of Speculative Physics

Appendix: Scientific Authors

Notes

English-German Glossary

German-English Glossary

Page Concordance

Index

105 106

113 141 158 172 187

193

193 194 195 196 199 201

233

239

249

253

257

261

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

What becomes a consuming and compelling passion for us often starts off with an air of contingency—so the genesis of this translation project. A seminar onGerman Idealist Philosophy of Nature, directed by David Farrell Krell at DePaul University, supplied the first incitements to this work in an atmosphere conductive to the growth and flourishing of rare ideas and inspi- rations. For this inspiration, along with much encouragement and translation advice, I am indebted to David Krell. Peter Steeves and Will McNeill read a version of the Translator’s Introduction, and I have benefitted from their comments. Daniel J. Selcer was kind enough to read large parts of the manu- script and provided many valuable observations. Iklim and Gordon Viol pro- vided priceless translation advice along the way. I am, of course, solely responsible for all defects that may remain. Finally, I am deeply grateful to Dicle Türkog˘lu for her tireless and determined support, and to Ela Hayal who, while her Dad was involved in the last stages of the work, slept just as much as she should have.

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AA

SW

ABBREVIATIONS

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.Werke: Historisch-kritische Ausgabe. Edited by Hans Michael Baumgartner, Wilhelm G. Jacobs, and Her- mann Krings. Stuttgart: Fromann-Holzboog, 1976ff. Cited by series, volume, and page number (e.g., AA I,7 301).

F. W. J. Schelling,Sämmtliche Werke. Edited by K. F. A. Schelling. 14 vols. Stuttgart: J. G. Cotta’scher Verlag, 1856ff. Cited by volume and page number (e.g., SW III 301).

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