Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later von Schelling, is a German philosopher.
Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him between Fichte, his mentor prior to 1800, and Hegel, his former university roommate and erstwhile friend.
Interpreting Schelling's philosophy is often difficult because of its ever-changing nature.
Some scholars characterize him as a protean thinker who, although brilliant, jumped from one subject to another and lacked the synthesizing power needed to arrive at a complete philosophical system.
Others challenge the notion that Schelling's thought is marked by profound breaks, instead arguing that his philosophy always focused on a few common themes, especially human freedom, the absolute, and the relationship between spirit and nature.
Schelling's general thought has often been neglected, especially in the English-speaking world, as has been his later work on mythology and revelation (much of which remains untranslated).
This stems not only from the ascendancy of Hegel, whose mature works portray Schelling as a mere footnote in the development of idealism, but also from his Naturphilosophie, which scientists have ridiculed for its "silly" analogizing and lack of empirical orientation.
In recent years, Schelling scholars have attacked both of these sources of neglect.
