How did Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling’s later philosophy challenge the idea that reason can explain all reality?

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling’s later philosophy challenged the sufficiency of reason by arguing that human existence is shaped by forces beyond rational comprehension. While earlier systems of German idealism, particularly that of G.W.F. Hegel, sought to explain reality as a purely rational cosmos, the later Schelling questioned this assumption by highlighting the presence of irrational elements and the reality of evil in the world.1

Schelling posited that human nature is governed by two competing principles: a clearheaded, rational sensibleness and a "dark primal foundation" of natural impulses and desires. He argued that humanity’s potential for evil arises when these dark, irrational impulses are elevated above the intellect. By recognizing that human life is determined by these "dark natural impulses" as well as reason, Schelling sought to understand human reality on a more profound level than the purely rationalist systems of his contemporaries.12

Ultimately, his later work distinguished between a "negative philosophy," which explores the idea of God through reason alone, and a "positive philosophy," which seeks to grasp the actual existence of the world and its creator through a posteriori reasoning.3