Against Constructivism

Abstract This article deals with Schelling's critique of the idealist concept of the system in his Stuttgart Seminars concerning the following points. In the first place, Schelling distinguishes between the system of the world and a system of thought in that the former cannot be invented but discovered. Every system of thought, that is, every unilaterally ideal system, can be signaled for Schelling as an invention of its author. Secondly, Schelling differentiates between the concept of identity and the real opposition which expresses itself in the system of the world. It will be analyzed here the extent to which Schelling's concept of creative identity posits the absolute as a third term that serves as a mediator between the poles of the real = A and the ideal = B. As a result of this framework concerning the system and its relation to reality, we will deal in turn with a variety of topics arising in Schelling's middle metaphysics, such as the emergence of the finite from the absolute, the status of the finite as a counter-image, as well as the relationship between system and freedom, and between God and the world to illustrate our author's gradual rejection of constructivists, that is, idealists grounding attempts of the system.