On the Difficulties in the Reception of Schelling – Remarks on the Margins of the Works of Ryszard Panasiuk

Abstract

This article addresses two major issues. First, the reception of Schelling’s philosophy in Poland after World War II. Second, how Schelling’s philosophical abstractions should be understood. The contextual understanding of philosophy relied on by Ryszard Panasiuk in his research was taken as the basis for interpretation. The structure of the article is derived from these two basic assumptions: the first part – German Idealism in the Context of Marxist-Leninist Ideology – deals with the way in which Marxist-Leninist ideology, starting from a class-dialectical and “party” understanding of philosophy, regarded philosophical Idealism as the enemy. The point of reference will be Georg Lukács’ concept of “Die Zerstörung der Vernunft” and the interpretation of Schelling’s philosophy as Irrationalism. Part Two – The Origins of Schelling Research – deals with the problem of why research on Schelling and Idealism ceased after World War II. And consecutively, under what conditions and when the first monographic studies appeared. The third part – How to understand nature? – is a historical-critical and contextual interpretation of Schelling’s Philosophy of Nature. Schelling’s philosophy can be understood as a new anthropology, integrally linking Man and Nature. In this sense, it is the antithesis of rationalist reductionism.