The Idea of Nature as a Structure
A Few Thoughts on Schelling’s Naturphilosophie
Keywords:
Naturphilosophie, German Idealism, structure, nature, Kant, SchellingAbstract
In this essay I provide a reading of Schelling’s idea of nature, exploring how it points to a common structure iterated in both the organic and inorganic world. I explore the meaning and constitution of this structure through its reorientation of the subject/object divide and its logic of symbiotic “involution.” I then reflect on one of the popular images of this structure in Naturphilosophie, the whirlpool. I explore how the whirlpool expresses the dynamic at the core of Schelling’s idea of nature and explore some of its potential shared ground with some more contemporary views.
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