ABSTRACT
Dieter Sturma's 'The Nature of Subjectivity: The Critical and Systematic Function of Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling's Philosophy of Nature', was one of the first systematic accounts of Schelling's philosophy of nature published in English. According to Sturma, nature constitutes a 'structural element in the self-relation of subjectivity'. Like Snow's book, Sturma's article focuses on the question of nature and its relation to transcendental philosophy, especially Fichtean idealism. Nature in other words, is a fundamental moment or element in the development of subjectivity. Sturma's interpretation reaffirms the widely held view that in the years between 1794 and 1799, Schelling was undertaking a Fichtean project. One of the great difficulties of understanding Schelling's philosophy of nature has to do with determining its relation to his other writings, in particular those that preceded it. After all, it is precisely during the time in which Schelling is allegedly most influenced by Johann Gottlieb Fichte that he began to develop his philosophy of nature.
