Definition of Naturphilosophie

For the historic branch of the metaphysics, see Natural philosophy.

Naturphilosophie (philosophy of nature) was a current in the philosophical tradition of German idealism in the 19th century, particularly associated with Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. As an approach to philosophy, it quickly came under fire and has since been subjected to relentless criticism, from among others Arthur Schopenhauer and especially from those allied to natural science, and it remains an open question whether it has any coherence at all.