Friedrich Schelling, Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie

Dale E. Snow (Loyola University Maryland)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Domains

Philosophy (any)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1799

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

Of Schelling’s first three early works on the philosophy of nature, the Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie [First Outline of a System of the Philosophy of Nature] is almost certainly the most important. It is also the least well known. The Ideen (1797) and Von der Weltseele (1798) were republished in Schelling’s lifetime and earned considerable critical attention; the First Outline appeared once, in 1799, with a separately published introduction, and was never re-issued. It was originally intended as a study guide for students attending Schelling’s lectures on the philosophy of nature at the University of Jena, yet it incorporates many of the strengths of the first two works and attempts, especially in the introduction, a grand synthesis of all that Schelling had accomplished in this area.

From the time of his earliest publications,...

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

1444 words

Citation: Snow, Dale E.. "Erster Entwurf eines Systems der Naturphilosophie". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 July 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=34661, accessed 09 June 2026.]