from nature itself and initially from the inorganic world. 

 From this comes the conclusion about the unity of the organic 

 and inorganic worlds which is recognized by the corresponding 

 forces. Hence, the basis of this unity is the spirituality 

 of all bodies of nature. In the inorganic world, Schelling 

 distinguished three forces — magnetic, electric, and chemical — 

 which are capable of conversion into one another. In the world 

 of living creatures, these forces correspond to reactivity, 

 sensitivity, and productivity. This last idea Schelling 

 borrowed from the anatomist Kielmeyer. £59) In the living, as 

 well as in the non-living, Schelling searched for the develop- 

 ment of opposing forces, which are identical, in his opinion, 

 in the absolute into which merge subject and object, existence 

 and consciousness, forces of attraction and forces of repul- 

 sion, positive and negative. The ideas of opposition or 

 polarity in natural phenomena also belong to (Karl Friedrich 

 von) Kielmeyer. In living creatures Schelling assumed the 

 presence of opposition between interior and exterior, i.e. 

 between the organism itself and the surrounding environment. 

 The exterior and interior in living nature also merge in a 

 harmonious identity. Harmony of the organism, as expressed 

 by Schelling, "is the charm characteristic of organic nature," 

 is the result of the unity of the opposition between the blind 

 mechanical forces acting in the organism and the expediency 

 inherent in it. According to Schelling, each living creature 

 is single and integral and simultaneously represents part of 

 nature which is considered an organism of a high order. Life, 

 according to Schelling, is a process of continuous creation. 

 In connection with that, he decidedly rejected the idea of 

 preformation and considered that the problem of development 

 of the individual should be solved from the point of view of 

 epigenesis. 



It is not surprising that the ideas of the young Schelling 

 particularly fit the Naturphilosophie constructions which he 

 developed in the university through brilliant and spiritual 

 improvisations which delighted the young people who were 

 coming, literally, from all ends of Europe to listen to him. 

 The numbers of Schel ling's students and followers were not 

 few. Among those serious scientists applying Schelling 's - 

 ideas of Naturphilosophie, the first mentioned should be 

 Lorenz Oken. 



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