Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling Biography - Profile, Childhood, Personal Life, Writings

Full Name: Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling.
Nickname: Schelling.

Father: Joseph Friedrich Schelling.
Mother: Gottliebin Marie.
Wife: Pauline Gotter (1786-1854).

Date of Birth: 27 January 1775.
Birth Place: Leonberg, Württemberg, Germany.

Date of Death: 20 August 1854 (aged 79).
Death Place: Bad Ragaz, Switzerland.
Cause of Death: Unspecified.
Remains/Buried: Bad Ragaz Municipal Cemetery, Unterwasser Sankt Gallen, Switzerland.

Gender: Male.
Race or Ethnicity: White.
Education: a Latin school in Nürtingen, University of Leipzig.
Occupation: Philosopher.
Professor: The University of Jena, University of Berlin.
Region: Western Philosophy.
Nationality: Germany.

Notable Ideas: System of Naturphilosophie, Identitätsphilosophie, Positive Philosophie, Unconscious Infinity.

Influenced By: Plato, Cicero, Spinoza, Leibniz, Kant, Jacobi, Herder, Goethe, Hölderlin, Fichte, Kielmeyer.

Major Writings: System of Transcendental Idealism (1800), On the history of modern philosophy (1833-34), The grounding of positive philosophy, Historical-critical introduction to the philosophy of mythology, Ideas for a philosophy of nature as an introduction to the study of this science, 1797, The ages of the world.

German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854) known as the major exponent of German Idealism, along with Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Johann Gottlieb Fichte. He was professor of Philosophy at the University of Jena. His writing influenced Coleridge, Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Tillich, Peirce, Goethe, Fackenheim, Carvalho, Secrétan, Krause, Ravaisson, Cousin, Grant and many more.

Early Life & Childhood: Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling was born on 27 January 1775 in Leonberg, Württemberg, Germany. His father, Joseph Friedrich Schelling was chaplain and an Orientalist professor and his mother named Gottliebin Marie. At first, he attended the monastery school at Bebenhausen. From 1783 to 1784 Schelling studied a Latin school in Nürtingen where he knew Friedrich Hölderlin. In 1792 he graduated from the philosophical faculty. In 1794, Schelling published an exposition of Fichte's thought entitled Über die Möglichkeit einer Form der Philosophie überhaupt. In 1795 he finished his thesis for his theological degree. In 1797, Schelling meet the brothers August Wilhelm Schlegel, Karl Friedrich Schlegel and Novalis.

Later Life & Death: From 1798 to 1803 was at at Jena where he came invited by Goethe where Schelling was unsympathetic to the ethical idealism that animated the work of Friedrich Schiller. From September 1803 until April 1806 Schelling was a professor at the new university of Würzburg. This period was marked by the considerable flux in his views and by a final breach with Fichte and Hegel. In 1807 Schelling received the manuscript of Hegel's Phenomenology des Geistes. In 1812, Schelling married one of her closest friends, Pauline Gotter who was introduced by Goethe. In 1841, Schelling was elected as Prussian privy councillor and member of the Berlin Academy. Then he met with Mikhail Bakunin, Jacob Burckhardt, Alexander von Humboldt, and Friedrich Engels. He later taught at the University of Berlin. Schelling died on 20 August 1854 and was buried at Bad Ragaz Municipal Cemetery in Unterwasser Sankt Gallen, Switzerland.