Abstract

It might seem paradoxical to present Schelling's thought by emphasizing the practical dimension of his work when so many commentators are challenging the reality of this practical dimension. When one considers Schelling's position within modern European philosophy, or when one attempts to underline the importance and the contemporary nature of his thought, several themes repeatedly come to the fore: the existence of freedom (which asserts itself in the face of the system and of closure), positivity and factuality (which are irreducible to the self‐movement of thought), and, lastly, creative temporality, the system of time, the organic nature of which is destined to make possible and thinkable the new beginnings that stem from an initial decision. I wish to propose that the problem of freedom – that is the freedom to do good and evil, as well as the metaphysics of evil which is introduced by this problem – constitutes the crux of Schelling's thought, capable of opening up a line of thought in classical German philosophy which deserves to be pursued again today, even if it is muddled by the theo‐cosmological speculations of the later Schelling.