Spinoza in Schelling

This paper explores Schelling's life-long fascination with Spinoza. Through moments of ambivalence and enthusiasm, one aspect of latter's thought remains central for Schelling: intellectual intuition of God/Nature. While he consistently emphasizes non-objectifiable nature of intuition (as constituting ground of freedom), influence of Spinoza is still apparent in what Schelling calls Unvordenklichkeit des Seins. Freedom is a response to an ungroundable necessity that consciousness lives out of, but behind which it can never penetrate. This insight provokes a reading of Spinoza that departs from conventional rationalist interpretation and gestures to an a-theological, yet mystical, understanding, which awakens a feeling not only for sublime in nature, but for sublime that lies at the heart of what is. In ensuing silence of self, substance reveals itself as living spirit. Through this interpretation, Neoplatonic truth of Spinoza becomes visible.