Klarsynthet : om den filosofiska innebörden av "det närvarande och verkliga" i Clara - or, On Nature's Connection to the Spirit World av F. W. J. Schelling

Sammanfattning: This essay aims to explore the philosophical meaning of the expression ”present and real” in Clara – or, On Nature’s Connection to the Spirit World by F. W. J. Schelling. Clara is unique among the works of Schelling since it is written as a discussion embedded in a symbolic and fictional context. One of the reasons for this is its aim to ground all scientific knowledge in that which is “present and real”. After having presented an overview of the life and philosophy of Schelling, as well as his relevance in contemporary philosophy, this essay is constituted by a thorough textual analysis of Clara. The analysis reveals how the text through descriptions of emotions, environments and a symbolic story highlights a certain “qualitative aspect” of the present and real.  As what is simultaneously ”the ideal in the real” and “the real in the ideal” this aspect escapes rational quantifying reason, revealing a foundational indivisible unity of life. An awareness of this intuitively known aspect of life can give rise to an immediate knowing, and felt as inspiration it can trigger the mind into the process of making what is immediately known into scientific “realized” knowledge. This way, an awareness of the pre-rational can lead to a permanent clairvoyance – a cognition in which that, which initially appears as irrational, can be made comprehensible. Interestingly, “the ideal in the real” coincides with the concept of “qualia”, the potential existence of which is lively debated within the field of consciousness studies today. Not much has been written about Clara so far, possibly partly because it concerns “the Spirit World” in its substantial sense. However, this essay hopes to show that Clara is phenomenologically, ontologically and epistemologically relevant and that it has a philosophical value of its own.