Schelling's Mystical Platonism: 1792-1802 with Dr. Naomi Fisher (Loyola University, Chicago).

May 7th, 2024, marks the official release date of Dr. Naomi Fisher’s important text on 'Schelling’s Mystical Platonism: 1792-1802,' from Oxford University Press. For this special occasion in Schelling scholarship, I invited Dr. Naomi Fisher (who is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago), to discuss major themes from her new book.

Dr. Fisher navigates us through Schelling very early essays in 1792 to his systematic 1802 dialogue Bruno; highlighting Schelling's own sophisticated Mystical Platonism.

“Naomi Fisher argues that Schelling is committed to two overarching theses, which together comprise his mystical Platonism. First, Schelling considers the absolute to be ineffable: It cannot be described in conceptual terms. For this reason, it remains inferentially external to any given philosophical system and is only intimated to us in certain analogical formulations, in works of art, or in nature as a whole.

Second, Schelling is committed to a kind of priority monism: All things are grounded in the absolute, but finite things possess an integral unity all their own, and so have a distinct and relatively independent existence. Highlighting these commitments resolves an interpretive dispute, according to which Schelling is a Fichtean idealist or a Spinozist, or he vacillates between these positions. Interpreting Schelling as advancing a mystical Platonism provides an alternative way of interpreting these early texts, such that they are by and large consistent. Fisher presents Schelling's early philosophy as a unique and compelling fusion of the old and new: Schelling fulfills the characteristic aims of post-Kantian philosophy in a way distinctive among his contemporaries, by drawing on and appropriating various strands of Platonism.”

You can purchase Naomi's book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/produ...

Dr. Naomi Fisher is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. Her research focuses on Kant and German Idealism and Romanticism, specifically the relationship between nature, freedom, and rationality in Kant and Schelling. Currently, she is working on projects related to the impact of Plato and Neoplatonism on Schelling’s philosophy. She also has interests in the broader history of philosophy, philosophy of science, and philosophy of religion.

Naomi Fisher PHD
https://www.luc.edu/philosophy/naomif...

https://naomifisher.weebly.com/

Questions from the Video.

1.The title of your text is Schelling’s Mystical Platonism 1792-1802. In the introduction you bring up a couple of important distinctions of what Platonism is, guided by a modern lens. This is indicated by phases: Early, middle and late Platonism, and also in reference to certain Dialogues. What Platonism best describes Schelling’s early philosophical project and how is Schelling’s own innovation in Platonism different to our own modern conceptions of Platonism and Neo-Platonism?

2. What is Schelling’s distinctive contribution to German Idealism? How does he differ from other German Idealists?

3. What are some of the main attributes of a Mystical Platonism? How do they play out in Schelling’s philosophy from 1792-1802 and can we define Schelling as Mystical thinker?

4. Could you briefly outline what Priority Monism is, and how does it apply to Schelling’s thought throughout this period that you are writing on?

5. You have a chapter on Schelling’s 1794 commentary on the Timaeus. What are some of the major important philosophical themes that attract Schelling to this work?

6. Who are some of the major Platonists or Neo-Platonists that have influenced Schelling own distinct Platonism.

7. How is Schelling’s Platonism manifested Particularly in his 1802 Dialogue Bruno