d
a professorship at Wuerzburg, but came into conflict with the
authorities; in 1806 he went to Munich as a member of the Academy of
Sciences and Director of the Academy of Fine Arts; in 1820 he moved to
Erlangen; and in 1827 he returned to Munich as professor of philosophy
at the newly-established University and as General Curator of the
Scientific Collections of the State. He was called to Berlin in 1841
to help counteract the influence of the Hegelian Philosophy, but met
with little success. He died in 1854.

The earlier writings of Schelling either reproduced the thoughts of
the _Wissenschaftslehre_ or developed them in the Fichtean spirit.
Among those of the latter class we note: _Ideas for a Philosophy of
Nature_, 1797; _On the World-Soul_, 1798; _System of Transcendental
Idealism_, 1800. During the second period, in which the influence of
Bruno and Spinoza is prominent, he works out his own philosophy of
identity; at this time he publishes _Bruno, or, Concerning the Natural
and Divine Principle of Things_, 1802, and _Method of Academic Study_,
1803. In the third period the philosophy of identity becomes the basis
for a still higher system in which the influence of German theosophy
(Jacob Boehme) is apparent; with the exception of _Philosophy and
Religion_, 1804, the _Treatise on Human Freedom_, 1809, and a
few others, the works of this period did not appear until after
Schelling's death. His previous philosophy is now called by him
"negative philosophy;" the higher or positive philosophy has as its
aim the rational construction of the history of the universe, or the
history of creation, upon the basis of the religious ideas of peoples;
it is a philosophy of mythology and revelation. Translations of some
of Schelling's works are to be found in the _Journal of Speculative
Philosophy_, an American periodical founded by W.T. Harris, which
devoted itself to the study of post-Kantian idealism. His Complete
Works, edited by his son, appeared in 14 volumes, 1856. There is a
revival of interest in his philosophy, and new editions of his books
are now being published.

Like most philosophers of note, Schelling reckons with the various
tendencies of his times. With idealism he interprets the universe as
identical in essence with what we find in our innermost selves; it is
at bottom a living dynamic process. If that is so, nature cannot be
a merely externalized obstacle for the ego, nor a dead static spatial
mechanical sy