God’s Freedom in Schelling

Abstract

The freedom of God is a central issue in Schelling’s middle and late philosophy, beginning with the ‘Freiheitsschrift’ published 1809. This article examines the inner elements of this freedom. How someone who has the kind of freedom Schelling assigns to God act? The result is that the freedom of God’s actions itself contains the necessity of acting as he is, and at the same time, the freedom from this necessity as he can act independently of his own character. Both together can be considered in a teleological action theory in which God’s actions are not motivated by personal interest, but arise solely from his goal to fulfil in history.