Philosophical Investigations into the Essence of Human Freedom

Introduction

Schelling published the essay in 1809 in the first volume of his “Philosophical Writings”; it was the last major work he published himself, though he lived until 1854. It answers the objection that a system in which all things are in God, a form of pantheism, leaves no room for human freedom. Schelling distinguishes in God between the ground of existence and existence itself. Evil is not a mere lack of good but a real possibility that arises when self-will separates from the universal will. Freedom is the capacity for good and evil. Heidegger devoted a lecture course to the essay in 1936.

Connections

Builds on

• Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order1677 · Baruch de Spinoza

More works by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling

• 1800System of Transcendental Idealism