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sively in the world of concepts, which, though it can be advanced
through thinking and reason, knows nothing about the reality of
existence. Goethe's words may come to mind: “All theory is gray,
my friend. But forever green is the tree of life.” (Faust, First Part.)
Negative philosophy (See Gyenge 2005. Book II. Chapter IV.)"
is negatíve because theory can only ever construct a concept of
existence, while the realíty of existence ís closed to ít (Gyenge
2020. p.103-129.). Note that Schelling, by including experience
and by making existence a necessary factor, goes beyond every
border denoted by German idealism and, to again borrow a term
from Hegel, genuinely collides with irrationalities. (Hegel 1986.
§.231.)'? With Schelling, we can say that the tree of Goethe has,
at the least, begun to bud, if not produce golden fruit. Schelling’s
goal is precisely to break down this boundary, using a less valuable
tool that the Cartesian tradition had almost completely forgotten:
experience. Despite this neglect, the alpha and omega of positive
philosophy is experience, which transcends the world of theory,
of construction, but preserves it as a prerequisite. As I said, one is
not without the other, nor can it be.
But the point is: identity by itself contains nothing, is nothing,
cannot be defined, even in the case that it serves as a starting point.
Before there was earth or sea or the sky that covers everything, Nature
appeared the same throughout the whole world: what we call chaos:
a raw confused mass, nothing but inert matter, badly combined
discordant atoms of things, confused in the one place. There was no
Titan yet, shining his light on the world, or waxing Phoebe renewing
her white horns, or the earth hovering in surrounding air balanced
11 While it does not connect closely here, the concepts of positive and negative
philosophy are the fruits of Schelling’s later work. Simplified: he defines
positive philosophy as that type of thought in which existence is primary,
while the constructed and logical generalities are secondary. In contrast to
this is negative philosophy, for which the opposite is true.
12 Iamreferring to the chapter titled “The Third Subdivision. Notion.” (,,Ir¬
rationalitäten und Inkommensurabilitäten”)