Edition of Schellings "Stuttgarter Privatvorlesung"

The historical-critical edition of the lectures, which gave Schelling in front of a circle of highly-respected civil servants in 1810, comprises the text-critical preparation of the existing documents: the transcript from Georgii`s estate as well as the text that was published by Schelling`s son after his father`s death under the name "Stuttgart Private Lectures", as there are appropriate letters and diaries`entries of the philosopher. The view to the listeners of the private lectures and the look into their letters show that the philosophical discussions had been continued also outside these meetings. They show above all what was discussed about: the importance of the religious instructions according to the method of Pestalozzi that Schelling should be won for. By publishing the previously unknown correspondence Wangenheim - Niederer - Schelling new sources are to be put at disposal for the research that examine the relations between philosophy, theology and education (pedagogics) at the beginning of the 19th century. The "Stuttgart Private Lectures" hold a central position in the collection of works written by Schelling. At that time it carried out the decisive change to a religious-philosophical system. In this connection the historical- critical edition is supposed to demonstrate the mediate function of the system composed in 1810 between the treatise "Of Human Freedom" (1809), in which Schelling had formed a completely newly conceived idea of God, and the "Ages of the world" (1811-15), which can be read at first as a history of being and becoming of God.

The Investigation Project which deals with F.W.J. Schellings Stuttgart Private Lectures is aimed at editing historical-critical texts which give evidence of the series of lectures that Schelling delivered in 1810 to a small circle of distinguished civil-servants in Württemberg. The first phase dealt with the philological works: the transcript was produced from the notes of the organizsator of the series of lectures, E.F. of Georgii, and was edited together with Schellings lecture notes, which were compiled by his son, K.F.A. Schelling, and were only postum published. These proceedings provided two clear text foundations, that were repeatedly proved, which ultimately made possible their comparison. The differences between the two documents were distinctly recognized and pointed out: the transcript included not only longer supplements, that were not present in the other text, but also language variations, which ranged from simplifications to the inverted meanings of representation (Darstellung), whose correction was made possible by the reference to Schellings text.The preparation of the explanatory notes, that examine the historical background of the ideas of the text, surprisingly revealed that the Stuttgart Private Lectures imply plenty of references to the writings of Swabian pietism. The notes in philosophers dairies reveal that Schelling studied various works of his countryman, pastor F. Chr. Oetinger, among which was also a translation from the opus of E. Swedenborg, Swedish Visionary and Spirit-Seer, as well as an outline of the theosophical teachings J. Böhme, a theurgist and magician. Besides, Schelling consulted the theological and philosophical writings of J. C. Lavater, as well as the works of Ph. M. Hahn, a Württembergian pastor and a precision mechanic. The reading of the above mentioned theosophical writings enabled the editor of this volume to point out the influences on Schellings outline of the concept of God (Oetinger), the immortality teachings (Lavater, Hahn) and the philosophy of spirit (Swedenborg), which are newly developed in the Stuttgart Private Lectures. Stikingly, we could observe plenty of references to the writings of Oetinger, who can be described, less as the founder of his own system, than as a collector of rare manuscripts and a researcher of the mystical body of thought. The results of the investigation led to the conclusion that Schelling, during the period in which he experienced a change in his thought and which was increasingly determined by religious questions, got new impetus from the authors from his Swabian homeland. It is especially valid for Oetinger, from whom Schelling received kabalistic elements, as well as Böhmes magic teachings. Have the investigational studies had any doubts about the sources of the philosopher, the present work demonstrates that Oetinger played a decisive role in imparting the mystical body of thoughts, which Schelling received more from the secondhand resources than from the original source.