Schelling and the Unconscious

Abstract

This paper traces the development of Schelling’s concept of the unconscious and its main claims are as follows: (1) In Schelling’s philosophy there are at least three concepts of the unconscious: the unconscious as absolute self, as nature and as dark ground. (2) Almost all the features of the Romantic concept of the unconscious appear in Schelling’s concept of the “unconscious creative force”. (3) His concept of the displaced ground is the most exciting from the point of view of contemporary research in the philosophy of consciousness. (4) A quite unique and complex description of the unconscious mental and spiritual processes can be read in the text of Stuttgarter Privatvorlesungen.