2. Second lecture: Schelling’s Formula of the World: The “Weltformel”

Much of Schelling's lectures and his broader legacy are connected to the concept of the Weltformel—a framework encapsulating polarity, the boundaries of human understanding, and the role of contingency. In this exploration, we consider why Schelling sought to articulate such a concept, delving into the philosophical context of his time that may have shaped his interests and objectives. When examining the Weltformel for the first time, I aim to clarify why it should not be understood as a "formula" in the conventional sense, challenging the interpretations that have often constrained its meaning to mathematical or deterministic paradigms.


One of the clearest and most concrete ways to approach Schelling's works across his three periods is by examining his "Weltformel" ("Formula of the World"), which he developed during his middle period. This concept first appeared in the third draft of his Ages of the World (Weltalter). The formula is integrally connected to ideas present in his Philosophy of Nature and Identity Philosophy, underpins the mechanics of his Freedom essay, and forms the foundational structure of his late mysticism.

This formula encompasses recurring themes throughout Schelling’s body of work: polarity, the limits of human understanding, and contingency. Through the Weltformel, Schelling addressed key philosophical questions, including the creation of the world, the emergence of human consciousness, God's revelation, and the process of God becoming conscious. (In his later period, he revised this to propose that God already possessed consciousness prior to the stages described by the formula.) Additionally, the formula introduces the concept of unconsciousness—a theme that holds particular interest in this context.

The formula can be interpreted as an interaction between three potencies and the "nothingness" derived from the absolute as a fourth potency. It draws heavily on the theosophical works and theogony of Jakob Boehme, who profoundly influenced Schelling. Consequently, some of the terminology aligns with Boehme’s system.

Why is this formula significant?

First, it provides a cohesive framework for understanding Schelling’s corpus, highlighting its consistency and aiding those encountering his work for the first time. Second, it boldly tackles a fundamental and complex question: What is the relationship between nature and freedom? Third, it offers an intriguing perspective on the creation of unconsciousness, aligning with ideas found in models of evolutionary truth.

Schelling addresses this problem logically, stating:

"One can push as many transitory materials as one wants, which become finer and finer, between mind and matter, but eventually, the point must come where mind and matter are One, or where the great leap that we so long wished to avoid becomes inevitable."

When considering being and existence, we confront perennial questions:

• How can there be one and then many?

• What is the source of being?

• What is the relationship between being and consciousness?
  

Most approaches to these questions lead to logical paradoxes or render such concepts incomprehensible. To Schelling's credit, his work offers a multifaceted explanation — logical, theological, evolutionary, psychological, and cosmological.

In many ways, Schelling builds upon Kant’s recognition of the limits of human reason in comprehending the absolute. Kant viewed nature as a self-organizing formal system governed by knowable laws. However, as conscious subjects, we possess free will that transcends those laws. This led Kant to a significant impasse: he could not explain how nature could produce a being that transcends itself—a being that becomes self-conscious and spontaneous.

Schelling extends this inquiry by asking,
"What must nature be that it can produce a mind capable of knowing it?"

This reframing introduces a dynamic interplay between consciousness and the unconscious, addressing questions that Kant left unresolved. While Hegel famously criticized Schelling's philosophy as “the night in which all cows are black,”a closer examination reveals that Schelling’s approach is far more nuanced and sophisticated. As Schelling himself asserted:

"I want to show here (…) how that night of the Absolute can be turned into day for knowledge."


The formula itself

When approaching the formula (and, through it, other works by Schelling), certain considerations are essential. First, it is not an arithmetical equation but rather a conceptual diagram. The equations within the formula are not formal in the mathematical sense but are more akin to Platonic logic, grounded in the forms. Let us explore what this means.

For example, consider the statement "The cow is black." At first glance, this seems to consist of two elements: "cow" and "black," much like the structure of an equation where A = B. However, this does not imply that the noun "cow" (A) and the predicate "black" (B) are subsumed into one another, such that the color black becomes the cow or vice versa. Instead, this statement introduces a new proposition: "a black cow"—a phenomenon that we can further investigate.


To discuss "a black cow," we must also recognize the underlying concept of "blackness," which relates to both sides of the equation but is neither entirely reducible to the "cow" nor "black." This implies there are conceptual aspects of the "cow" that are not defined by "blackness" and aspects of "blackness" that are not tied to the "cow." In this sense, we might also say A ≠ B. Schelling employs this same logic in his Formula of the World.

The Formula and Its Components

Let us first examine the formula and then analyze it part by part:

To understand the formula, we need to investigate the following components:

1. The stage of things prior to the initiation of the formula.
2. The first potency (A = B).
3. The second potency (A²).
4. The third potency (A³).
5. The irreducible remainder (B), referred to by Schelling as "der nie aufgehende Rest" (the never-dissolvable remainder).