Schelling as a Romantic Thinker or The Role of Art in his Identity System

In his notes on ‘German Classical Philosophy: Schelling’,1 Paul Tillich develops a brilliant analysis of Schelling’s thought, situating it in relation to Fichte and Hegel, as well as other German authors such as Schleiermacher, Nietzsche and Marx. Tillich’s central point, however, is that what distinguishes Schelling from Hegel and Fichte is that “he became the undisputed leader in Romantic philosophy in all its periods”.2 For Tillich, there is no doubt that Schelling’s is the most complete “expression of Romantic philosophy”.3