Searching for the origins of 20th century Philosophical Anthropology, it is quite
common to follow the suggestions of A. Gehlen who points to Herder as such an
origin. In this study, however, I propose a rather different, until now scarcely
considered hypothesis: the origin of Philosophical Anthropology can be brought back
to Schelling’s reflections concerning Kant’s Critique of Judgement and the problem of
self-organization of nature. Starting from his critical observations on Kant, Schelling
works out the concept of a succession of levels (Stufenfolge) in the organic, and that of
the ex-centricity (Excentricität) that defines human beings. Exactly these two
concepts will be discussed by Scheler in The Human Place in the Cosmos and by
Plessner in The Stages of the Organic and Man. It is commonly assumed that Schelling
did not exert any direct influence upon Philosophical Anthropology; one usually
allows only for an indirect influence on Scheler, intermediated by Eduard von
Hartmann. This paper shows, however, that a documentable, direct influence of
Schelling on Scheler can be demonstrated, and that it was decisive for the birth of
Philosophical Anthropology.
