{{italic title}} The '''''Weltalter''''' (sometimes '''''Die Weltalter'''''; "{{bracket|The}} 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''.<ref name="SEP">{{cite SEP |url-id=Schelling |title=Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling |last=Bowie |first=Andrew|date=19 July 2012}}</ref>
==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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alistair Welchman|title=The New Schelling|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cj9LsLVpTrEC&pg=RA1-PA18|accessdate=19 July 2012|date=2004|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8264-6942-7|page=18}}</ref> A work ''System der Weltalter'' from 1827/8 consists of Munich lecture notes taken by Ernst von Lasaulx from Schelling,<ref>{{cite book|author=Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling|title=System der Weltalter: Münchener Vorlesung 1827/28 in einer Nachschrift von Ernst von Lasaulx|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KFDu9GzwrtIC&pg=PR30|accessdate=19 July 2012|year=1998|publisher=Vittorio Klostermann|isbn=978-3-465-02744-7|page=30}}</ref> who was at that time a student also of Franz von Baader and Joseph Görres.<ref>:de:s:ADB:Lasaulx, Ernst von</ref>
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, were published in 1946, with some of Schelling's project notes.<ref name="Vassányi2010">{{cite book|author=Miklós Vassányi|title=Anima Mundi: The Rise of the World Soul Theory in Modern German Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZtfOVk5zz1YC&pg=PA387|accessdate=19 July 2012|date=3 December 2010|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-90-481-8795-9|page=387}}</ref>
==Influences== Schelling works in the ''Weltalter'' with and from a theological idea of creation.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Laughland|title=Schelling Versus Hegel: From German Idealism to Christian Metaphysics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mOzHYeFPNckC&pg=PA102|accessdate=19 July 2012|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-6118-4|page=102}}</ref> He is influenced by the formulations of Jakob Boehme, and in general the Bible.<ref>{{cite book|author=Joris Geldhof|title=Revelation, Reason and Reality: Theological Encounters With Jaspers, Schelling and Baader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PS2to13BblAC&pg=PA96|accessdate=19 July 2012|year=2007|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-429-1929-7|pages=96–7}}</ref> Taken as a Romantic theory of the ''anima mundi'', the ''Weltalter'' writings call on, at least superficially, mysticism (both Jewish and Christian) and natural philosophy.<ref name="Vassányi2010"/>
==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,
<blockquote>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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Norman |first1=Judith |last2=Welchman |first2=Alistair |date=2010-01-01 |title=Creating the Past: Schelling's Ages of the World (with Judith Norman) (2010) |url=https://www.academia.edu/251969 |journal=Journal of the Philosophy of History}}</ref></blockquote>
The 1813 draft has been called the origin of dialectical materialism.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kelsey Wood|title=Zizek: A Reader's Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7HRBODii6dcC&pg=PA119|accessdate=19 July 2012|date=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-26982-4|page=119}}</ref> Slavoj Žižek 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".<ref name="Žižek1996">{{cite book|author=Slavoj Žižek|title=The Indivisible Remainder: An Essay on Schelling and Related Matters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K77t2XTpSeMC&pg=PA7|accessdate=19 July 2012|year=1996|publisher=Verso|isbn=978-1-85984-959-0|page=7}}</ref>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
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Category:1810s books Category:Free will Category:German idealism Category:Metaphysics books Category:Works by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling