Abstract

In this paper, some of Schelling’s core ideas on consciousness and nature are investigated with the aim ofemphasizing their historical and systematic relevance to the current discussion on consciousness andpanpsychism. The focus is on the reasons and consequences of Schelling’s “turn” from his early Fichteanidealism to the “real materialism” of his later Identity Philosophy. It is shown that Schelling’s way of copingwith the ontological problems of the emergence of consciousness from a natural basis is by all meanscomparable to current panpsychist strategies dealing with these topics. The paper concludes by presenting someof the prospects of, as well as a critical discussion of, the impacts of Schelling’s assumptions.