The ''Weltalter'' (sometimes ''Die Weltalter''; " Ages of the World") of

Friedrich Schelling Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...

refers to a philosophical work of 1811, and its continuation in manuscript for many years after that. It was a long and unfinished project, sometimes identified with Schelling's philosophical output from 1809 to 1827, the period beginning with his '' Freiheitsschrift''.

The ''Weltalter'' fragments

Despite Schelling's years of work on the project, no definitive version of the ''Weltalter'' emerged. There were three drafts in a series: the later versions were not complete and are often referred to as fragments. A work ''System der Weltalter'' from 1827/8 consists of Munich lecture notes taken by Ernst von Lasaulx from Schelling, who was at that time a student also of

Franz von Baader Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

and

Joseph Görres Johann Joseph Görres, since 1839 von Görres (25 January 1776 – 29 January 1848), was a German writer, philosopher, theologian, historian and journalist. Early life Görres was born in Koblenz. His father was moderately well off, and sent his ...

. The manuscripts, which no longer exist, are assigned to the periods 1811, 1813 and 1814/5. The 1814/5 manuscript was published posthumously; copies of the other two manuscripts, made by Manfred Schröter before the destruction of the originals by bombing in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, were published in 1946, with some of Schelling's project notes.

Influences

Schelling works in the ''Weltalter'' with and from a theological idea of creation. He is influenced by the formulations of

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, and in general the Bible. Taken as a Romantic theory of the ''

anima mundi The concept of the (Latin), world soul (, ), or soul of the world (, ) posits an intrinsic connection between all living beings, suggesting that the world is animated by a soul much like the human body. Rooted in ancient Greek and Roman philo ...

'', the ''Weltalter'' writings call on, at least superficially,

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute (philosophy), Absolute, but may refer to any kind of Religious ecstasy, ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or Spirituality, spiritual meani ...

(both Jewish and Christian) and

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the develop ...

Philosophical formulation

Aside from the language used, there are a number of formulations explaining the problems Schelling was tackling in the ''Weltalter'' project. According to a 2010 paper,

When Schelling sat down to write the ''Ages of the World'' he had a large number of seemingly contradictory philosophical commitments to reconcile. He wanted to avoid dualism and yet acknowledge the essential and irreducible roles of both spirit and matter. He wanted to give a law-like description of the creation of the world and yet preserve divine freedom. He wanted to treat God as perfect and self-sufficient and yet also account for the motive underlying God's decision to create the world. Perhaps most paradoxically of all, he wanted to explain what events led up to the creation of the past – what ‘caused’ time.

The 1813 draft has been called the origin of

dialectical materialism Dialectical materialism is a materialist theory based upon the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that has found widespread applications in a variety of philosophical disciplines ranging from philosophy of history to philosophy of scien ...

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

in explaining his attitude to the ''Weltalter'' and its theosophical leanings, however, states that "there is no way of throwing out the dirty bath water without losing the baby".

Notes

{{Authority control 1810s books Free will German idealism Metaphysics books Works by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling