Dale E. Snow is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Loyola College.

• Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Enlightenment under Attack I. Kant's Early ReceptionII. Jacobi and the Pantheism ControversyIII. Faith or Reason?2. The Knowledge of Reality I. The Problem of the Thing in ItselfII. Fichte: The Self as First PrincipleIII. The Early Schelling's Concept of the SelfIV. How Is Knowledge of Reality Possible?V. Genius: The "Sunday's Children"Problem3. The Philosophy of Nature I. The Essential Role of the Philosophy of NatureII. Arguments against the Mechanistic Model of NatureIII. The Development of the Concept of MatterIV. Necessity and Scientific ObjectivityV. On the World SoulVI. Dynamism, Polarity, and the Philosophy of Organism4. Metaphors for Nature I. From the Philosophy of Nature to the SystemII. Metaphors of Dominance and ControlIII. KantIV. FichteV. HegelVI. Schelling5. The Emergence of the Unconscious I. The Purpose of the SystemII. A Clash of ParadigmsIII. Paradoxes in the SystemIV. Aesthetic Idealism6. Of Human Freedom I. The Idealism of FreedomII. DifficultiesIII. The Introduction: A Redefinition of FreedomIV. The "Real and Vital Conception of Freedom"V. "Man's Being Is Essentially His Own Deed"VI. An End of Idealism?7. Beyond Idealism? The Ages of the World I. Schelling's Later PhilosophyII. The Doctrine of the FallIII. The Historical Character of Reality: The Philosophy of TimeIV. Gottsein and Dasein: The Ontology of What is NotV. The Controversy of 1811—12 and BeyondVI. ConclusionNotes Selected Bibliography Index

"It gives a very clear account (in relatively brief compass) of a long series of extremely difficult and obscure texts." — H. S. Harris, York University"The book is remarkably clear and straightforward. This is particularly impressive in the field of Schelling scholarship, given the notorious obscurity of Schelling's works. Dr. Snow has obviously taken great pains to report only what she thoroughly understands, and that is certainly enough to provide the reader with a comprehensive general introduction to Schelling's philosophy. There is, moreover, a definite need for such an introduction. One must recall that in virtually every country outside of England and the United States, Schelling has long been recognized as Hegel's equal, if not his philosophical superior. The project of introducing his philosophy here is an important one." — Joseph P. Lawrence, Holy Cross College