Between found letters and translated prefaces Approach to Schelling and Humboldts philosophies of nature

Abstract

This text presents a translation that demonstrates the hypothesis of a dialogue between the philosophical-scientific systems of Friedrich Schelling (1775-1854) and Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859). Based on the version of letters in Portuguese exchanged by Schelling and Humboldt, as well as the translation of the preface of the original German Ideen zu einer Geographie der Pflanzen (1807) written by Humboldt with the painter Aimé Bonpland, the affinities between the philosophical-scientific systems of the authors. This is intended to allow the possibility of reading points of convergence between their respective philosophies of nature. Two moments of exposure were essential to support the hypothesis of such convergence between the systems. Firstly, the translation of two fundamental letters exchanged between Schelling and Humboldt is presented. Firstly, the translation of two fundamental letters exchanged between Schelling and Humboldt is presented. Secondly, the translation of the “Preface” (Vorrede) in the original German is presented, whose Schellinguian features are highlighted to support the interpretative hypothesis of approximation to the authors’ philosophical-scientific systems. The translation also allows for the possibility of dialogue between the systems with regard to the authors’ more general conceptual arcs, namely: the approximation of Schellinguian theses (“nature as a whole”, “potencies of nature” and “organization of nature”) with Humboldtian concepts (“forms of nature”, “physiognomy of nature” and “paintings of nature”). Finally, in terms of a final explanatory note, the trajectory of the existence of two originals (one in German and the other in French) to the work of Humboldt and Bonpland is presented, pointing to the need for a historiographical analysis of the same in terms of its fate. of its reception in studies on the concept of nature.