Schelling Now

For too long Schelling's philosophy has been seen as no more than a transition from the philosophies of Kant and Fichte to that of Hegel. In recent years, however, Schelling's philosophy has begun to be recognized as worthy of study in its own right. Complementing The New Schelling (2004), ed. by Judith Norman and Alistair Welchman, this volume of 14 essays, edited by Wirth (Oglethorpe Univ.), constitutes a crucial further step in establishing the importance and contemporary relevance of Schelling's philosophy. Schelling Now is divided into three sections: New Approaches, Rethinking Concepts, and Schelling and Contemporary Philosophy. Although this last section demonstrates the relevance of Schelling's philosophy to that of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, Nancy, and Nishitani, none of the essays effectively argues that Schelling has insights not achieved by those other thinkers or that his philosophy can be seen as having advanced, avant la lettre, beyond theirs. Moreover, Schelling's philosophy has not yet been brought into the conversation of analytic philosophy. Not until these occur will it be fully rehabilitated. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers.