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Schelling's Naturalism: Motion, Space, And The Volition Of Thought, Ben Woodard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation examines F.W.J. von Schelling's Philosophy of Nature (or Naturphilosophie) as a form of early, and transcendentally expansive, naturalism that is, simultaneously, a naturalized transcendentalism. By focusing on space and motion, this dissertation argues that thought should be viewed as a natural activity through and through. This view is made possible by German Idealism historically, and yet, is complicated and obscured by contemporary philosophy's treatment of German Idealism in both analytic and continental circles. The text engages with the foundations of Schelling's theory of nature as well as geometry, field theory, inter-theory relations, epistemology, and pragmatism.