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In this chapter, Friedrich Wilhelm von Schelling’s thought on the phenomenon of guilt is examined. The main point established is that on the one hand, Schelling can be seen to follow in Kant’s footsteps in that he, too, sees guilt as ultimately grounded in a free, intelligible act. On the other hand, Schelling goes beyond Kant in that he holds that for guilt (empirical or ontological) to be justified, it is necessary that the human being constitute or choose his or her own being in a timeless and free deed. In other words, Schelling endorses a version of the transcendental argument for freedom where guilt implies that the human being is a free causa sui. Schelling’s conception of the human being as causa sui enables him to address the problem of infinite regress that beleaguers Kant’s view.

On the basis of an interpretation of key passages in The Gay Science, this paper examines Nietzsche's idea of amor fati—love of fate. Nietzsche's idea of amor fati involves the wish to be able to learn how to see things as beautiful. This gives the impression that amor, love, is supposed to play some role in the beautification of fate. But Nietzsche also explains amor fati in relation to his desire to be a devoted “Yes‐sayer.” This pulls the interpretation of amor in a different direction; for now it seems as if the love Nietzsche wants to cultivate is supposed to be expressed in a positive, affirmative attitude toward one's fate. How to think this duality under the single idea of amor fati? I develop a novel reading of amor fati as a form of practice, as something that we can do, and explain in its light how the two moments of love are to be brought together. The relation of amor fati to the “Eternal Recurrence of the Same” is also addressed: mastering the practice of amor fati can enable one to pass successfully the test of the Eternal Recurrence of the Same.