Rekindling Nature: Freedom, Time, and the In-Itself

Authors

  • Juan Felipe Guevara-Aristizabal Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Abstract

In the Freedom Essay, before formulating what he considers to be the central philosophical problem concerning human freedom—the capacity for good and evil—Schelling unpacks some remarks about logic and the uses of the copula as well as a very brief comment on Kant’s use of the concept of the in-itself within the domain of practical philosophy. Schelling’s move from the exclusively human to things, to nature, when it comes to matters of freedom, seems like a direct challenge to Kant, while still pursuing the latter’s most popular motto: “Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own understanding!” (Ak. VIII: 35). Instead of presenting Schelling’s efforts within this enlightened frame of daring and courage, I will try to present it as a matter of care, of asking difficult questions that escape any preconceived answer of thinking the unspeakable that is latent in the present—this is how the task of rekindling nature begins.

Author Biography

Juan Felipe Guevara-Aristizabal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Biologist (University of Antioquia) with a master's degree and doctorate in Philosophy of Science (UNAM). His research interests concern the relationship between philosophy and science at his historical interface, so that his stories are not constructed in isolation, but together. His emphasis has been on the constitution and exchange between biology, metaphysics and ontology during the 17th-19th centuries in Europe. History as an interface of discourses and practices highlights the political character of both science and philosophy. In this sense, I am interested in exploring, with the help of science and technology studies, the conformation of the demarcation criterion as a central concept of analysis of the philosophy of science at the beginning of the 20th century and its political effects.

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Published

2022-04-05

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Section

Articles