The ''Weltalter'' (sometimes ''Die Weltalter''; " Ages of the World") of Friedrich Schelling refers to a philosophical work of 1811, and its continuation in manuscript for many years after that. It was a long and unfinished project, sometimes identified with Schelling's philosophical output from 1809 to 1827, the period beginning with his '' Freiheitsschrift''.

The ''Weltalter'' fragments

Despite Schelling's years of work on the project, no definitive version of the ''Weltalter'' emerged. There were three drafts in a series: the later versions were not complete and are often referred to as fragments. A work ''System der Weltalter'' from 1827/8 consists of Munich lecture notes taken by

Ernst von Lasaulx Peter Ernst von Lasaulx, known as Ernst von Lasaulx (; 16 March 1805 – 9 May 1861) was a German philologist and politician. Life Lasaulx was born in Koblenz, and died in Munich. He was the eldest son of well-known architect, Johann Claudius ...

from Schelling, who was at that time a student also of

Franz von Baader Franz von Baader (27 March 1765 – 23 May 1841), born Benedikt Franz Xaver Baader, was a German Catholic philosopher, theologian, physician, and mining engineer. Resisting the empiricism of his day, he denounced most Western philosophy si ...

and

Joseph Görres Johann Joseph Görres, since 1839 von Görres (25 January 1776 – 29 January 1848), was a German writer, philosopher, theologian, historian and journalist. Early life Görres was born in Koblenz. His father was moderately well off, and sent hi ...

. The manuscripts, which no longer exist, are assigned to the periods 1811, 1813 and 1814/5. The 1814/5 manuscript was published posthumously; copies of the other two manuscripts, made by Manfred Schröter before the destruction of the originals by bombing in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, were published in 1946, with some of Schelling's project notes.

Influences

Schelling works in the ''Weltalter'' with and from a theological idea of creation. He is influenced by the formulations of

Jakob Boehme Jakob may refer to: People * Jakob (given name), including a list of people with the name * Jakob (surname), including a list of people with the name Other * Jakob (band), a New Zealand band, and the title of their 1999 EP * Max Jakob Memorial A ...

, and in general the Bible. Taken as a Romantic theory of the ''

anima mundi The ''anima mundi'' (Greek: , ) or world soul is, according to several systems of thought, an intrinsic connection between all living beings, which relates to the world in much the same way as the soul is connected to the human body. Although ...

'', the ''Weltalter'' writings call on, at least superficially,

mysticism Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in u ...

(both Jewish and Christian) and

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

Philosophical formulation

Aside from the language used, there are a number of formulations explaining the problems Schelling was tackling in the ''Weltalter'' project. According to a 2010 paper,

When Schelling sat down to write the ''Ages of the World'' he had a large number of seemingly contradictory philosophical commitments to reconcile. He wanted to avoid dualism and yet acknowledge the essential and irreducible roles of both spirit and matter. He wanted to give a law-like description of the creation of the world and yet preserve divine freedom. He wanted to treat God as perfect and self-sufficient and yet also account for the motive underlying God's decision to create the world. Perhaps most paradoxically of all, he wanted to explain what events led up to the creation of the past – what ‘caused’ time.

The 1813 draft has been called the origin of

dialectical materialism Dialectical materialism is a philosophy of science, history, and nature developed in Europe and based on the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxist dialectics, as a materialist philosophy, emphasizes the importance of real-world con ...

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek (, ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New Y ...

in explaining his attitude to the ''Weltalter'' and its theosophical leanings, however, states that "there is no way of throwing out the dirty bath water without losing the baby".

Notes

{{Authority control 1810s books Free will German idealism Metaphysics books Works by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling