Life, Matter and Gender. Schelling’s Philosophical Projects from the Philosophy of Nature to the Ages of the World

Abstract

The chapter explores how Schelling’s philosophical projects from the philosophy of nature to the Ages of the World have contributed to the formation of new conceptualizations of gender, generation, and organic nature. By focusing on Schelling’s conceptualization of living nature and matter, Susanne Lettow reconstructs Schelling’s articulation of sexual dualism and the patriarchal narrative that guides his de-centering of the transcendental subject in the first two parts of the chapter. In the third part, she analyzes Schelling’s understanding of temporality, and argues that a critical reading of his temporal-material turn that is based on a deconstruction of Schelling’s gendered subtexts can help to overcome blind spots of the present “material turn,” in particular its vitalist and Spinozist versions.