Present in the Absence

Jindřich Karásek

In the Preface to the Phenomenology of Spirit, we find passages commonly perceived as an implicit critique of Schelling’s philosophy of identity, and in particular his philosophy of nature. The aim of the article is to prove that there are both systematic reasons and reasons that can be found in the correspondence between Schelling and Hegel which, at least, cast doubt on this traditional interpretation. This concerns above all the metaphor of “night in which all cows are black” the interpretation of which is, among others, in the centre of author’s argumentation.