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Document Details : Title: Schelling's Theory of the Soul in Philosophy and Religion Author(s): RODRÍGUEZ, Juan José Journal: Louvain Studies Volume: 47 Issue: 2 Date: 2024 Pages: 146-165 DOI: 10.2143/LS.47.2.3295139 Abstract : This paper delves into the theological and philosophical significance of Friedrich Schelling’s doctrine of the soul, as articulated in his 1804 work Philosophy and Religion. It foregrounds the soul as an immaterial entity whose relationship with the body, oscillating between separation and unity, has been central to Western thought from Plato and Aristotle through Augustine, Descartes, and Kant. While Kant’s critical philosophy discredited metaphysical discourse on the soul, replacing it with the transcendental subject, Schelling uniquely defied this interdiction, reclaiming a transcendent perspective. The paper posits a philosophical thesis: Schelling’s treatment of the soul integrates metaphysics with freedom, finitude, and the concept of the Fall, proposing a view where human subjectivity bridges the finite and infinite. This understanding challenges the Kantian paradigm, offering theological depth by interweaving the soul’s essence with divine freedom. The ethical and political implications are profound, as Schelling’s later critique of the state emerges from his anthropology of freedom, suggesting that human dignity resides beyond state structures in a deeper, metaphysical unity. Thus, this study illuminates Schelling’s contribution to contemporary debates on individuality, freedom, and the soul’s role in the ethical and theological framework of human existence. |
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