First Outline Of A System Of The Philosophy Of Nature

A VOLUME IN THE SUNY SERIES IN CONTEMPORARY CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY F.W.J. Schelling Translated and with an Introduction and Notes by Keith R. Peterson First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature FIRST OUTLINE OF A SYSTEM OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy Dennis J. Schmidt, editor FIRST OUTLINE OF A SYSTEM OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE F. W. J. Schelling Translated and with an Introduction and Notes by Keith R. Peterson State University of New York Press Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2004 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207 Production by Judith Block Marketing by Jennifer Giovani and Susan Petrie Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von, 1775–1854. [Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie. English] First outline of a system of the philosophy of nature / Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling ; translated and with an introduction and notes by Keith R. Peterson. p. cm. — (SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-7914-6003-7 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-7914-6004-5 (pbk : alk. paper) 1. Philosophy of nature. I. Peterson, Keith R. II. Title. III. Series BD581.S2613 2004 2003059028 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Abbreviations ix Translator’s Introduction The Primacy of the Postulate From Postulate to Deduction Transcendental Deductions and The Idea of Nature Logogenesis, Construction, and Potency in the Philosophy of Nature Conclusion Works Cited xi xiii xviii xxii xxvii xxxii xxxiii Translator’s Note xxxvii Title Page of Schelling 1799 Edition 1 Foreword to Schelling 1799 Edition 3 Outline of the Whole 5 First Division I. The Unconditioned in Nature II. The Original Qualities and Actants in Nature III. Actants and Their Combinations IV. Inhibition and Stages of Development V. Deduction of the Dynamic Series of Stages 13 13 19 28 35 53 Second Division First System Second System Third Possible System Conclusions 71 73 74 78 94 v vi Contents Third Division I. On the Concept of Excitability II. Deduction of Organic Functions from the Concept of Excitability III. The Graduated Series of Stages in Nature Appendix to Chapter III IV. General Theory of the Chemical Process V. The Theater of the Dynamic Organization of the Universe 105 106 113 141 158 172 187 Introduction to the Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature, or, On the Concept of Speculative Physics and the Internal Organization of a System of this Science (1799) §1. What we call Philosophy of Nature is a Necessary Science in the System of Knowledge §2. Scientific Character of the Philosophy of Nature §3. Philosophy of Nature is Speculative Physics §4. On the Possibility of Speculative Physics §5. On a System of Speculative Physics in General §6. Internal Organization of the System of Speculative Physics 193 194 195 196 199 201 <