Schopenhauer and Schelling's Philosophical Inquiries into the Essence of Human Freedom

Even though it is not unusual to read about the influence of Schelling's "Freedom Essay" on Schopenhauer's metaphysics, tradition has almost completely overlooked the considerable amount of scattered passages that can be found in Schopenhauer's works and unpublished writings that deal with his relation and discussion of Schelling's 1809 essay. This article examines the whole of these documents, highlighting Schopenhauer's main objections to Schelling's text and trying to establish the polemics' ultimate motivation. Furthermore, it deals with Schopenhauer's own statements about the so-called influence, giving some possible keys for an interpretation of such statements different from the most common one.