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TRUTH? REALITY? THE THINKING PATH TO THE SPIRIT
EPISTEMOLOGY THE CONSCIOUS BRIDGE FROM NATURAL SCIENCE TO A SCIENCE OF THE SPIRIT BY DR CARL UNGER (1878-1929) Introduction by Christopher Bodame Mob.Tel: Australia 0413 237 161 ESSAYS 1. The Ego and the Nature of Man
2. Death of Natural Science / Birth of Spiritual Science 3. Thoughts Concerning the Philosophy of Contradiction
“You cannot be a scientist if you merely interpret nature; you have to investigate the very tool which you use for that interpretation this tool is thinking.” Rudolf.Steiner.
“All philosophising is finished, except for those not finished with it; it is a fruitless exercise except for those who have yet to attain its fruits - its fruits being the capacity for truly objective thinking. “. “Most philosophy is not the result of rational thought but of irrational souls – predisposed to justify their own resort.” C.B.
An Australian Foreword Ladies and Gentlemen… G’day, and get stuffed.
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Lets face facts at the outset. The following essays are not beyond the comprehension of anyone with an open mind; this being so, I also know there will be few willing – especially those who deem themselves at the cutting edge - to struggle through the short first essay, let alone the two that follow. Why is this? - It is simply conceptual constipation, a consequence of obesity of ego.
BOTTOM LINE Most thinking is aligned to the position a person prepares in order to affirm the sun shines each morning up their rear passage, and the inhalation of what they term 'fresh air'. Tis butt - the bottom line.
Obes Obesit ity y of ego ego is to thin think k acco accord rdin ing g to the the conf confin ines es of one’ one’s s disposition. We do not grasp that thinking is, at its source, beyond disposition, is, beyond subject and object, for it is thinking that first makes subject to be subject and object to be object. And so we spend our lives opinionating according to the form and content of our dispos dispositi ition, on, and and not accor accordin ding g to the the form form and conte content nt of thinking itself. Thereby, almost invariably, disposition leads to error, and through error to tragedy wherein the despairing cry of ‘Why’ becomes becomes the impetus impetus to knowledg knowledge. e. Such Such is our individual individual and collective history. And when the dust of our history has settled and we condescend to the vacuity of our consciousness, we come to realize we are just run-of-the-mill arseholes, blowing ill-will and erudite artifice out of our orifices. When hen we surv survey ey the the whol whole e gamut amut of glor glorio ious us info inform rmat ativ ive e unknowing, there is one thing which becomes obvious, and that is our propensity to ask questions in order to answer with alternatives, thus avoiding both reality, and responsibility.
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Along with this flatulence of fullness, there is another stain that consta constantl ntly y skid skid-ma -marks rks acros across s the sheets sheets of know knowled ledge: ge: “the survi surviva vall of the the fitte fittest” st” ; that that stat statem emen entt is the the arro arroga ganc nce e of egotism, is as blinding as “ an eye for an eye”, and as suicidal as Wall Street’s, Street’s, “ He who has the most when he dies, wins ”; the consequences thereof being: those we pillor as we march forward return to pillar us from behind. Or, all we possess becomes our debt. Let us never speak of it again. The reality is: “becoming through sacrifice.” We, who think we are erudite, will find on self-analysis that our erudit erudition ion is just just a pile pile of conc concept eptua uall rubbl rubble, e, a garba garbage ge dump dump glistening with shattered splinters of a higher knowledge. I am reminded of the last words of a celebrated academic, who, in foraging through his rubble, who despite clear and present danger fencing and signage included - fell to his death… “The more you think you’re right, the more you will be even when you’re wrong,” Such is “hard experience”, the great rectifier to rectal thinking. Now isn’t it wonderful to be Australian; it is our right to swear - more or less - with immunity. Almost without exception we are born with Tourette Syndrome, and not surprising given what confronts us: bloody flies, bloody spiders, bloody idiots, bloody politicians, and so on. It is these intricacies of articulation that fill us with warmth for what we generally refer to as the Spirit of Australia Australia, and by which we can with affection – or not - tell each other to ‘ get stuffed’ . Now when we tell someone to get stuffed, all we are echoing is a derisive derivative of the archetypal call from ancient Greece to mankind, “Know Thyself,” Thyself,” but in the coarse, materialistic voice of
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our time; for to get stuffed is basically to penetrate oneself, and penetration of self in cognition is self-knowledge .*
Pros and Cons When you take ‘create' out of pro-create, and ‘ception’ out of con-ception, all you’re left with are a lot of X-ceptionally creative 'pros' and 'cons'. We all know that if we are not stuffing others or ourselves, we are being slowly buggered. Our questionable freedoms are being sold into economic slavery, our yearnings for something other than what there is, are being sucked dry by obesity of egoity – self-absorption, greed. And yet that egoity is part of the common egoity in each of us. And egoity in whatever form is a corruption of the human spirit; it is selfself-des destru tructi ctive ve even even while while havin having g the appe appeara aranc nce e of selfselfenha enhanc ncem emen ent. t. This This is why why all all worl world d view views, s, pers perspe pect ctiv ives es and and interpretations, in error with the true being of human being and becoming will self-destruct. And And yet yet all all dest destru ruct ctio ion n is but but tran transf sfor orma mati tion on,, all all deat death h is but but transformation, all transformation is but a sacrifice, all sacrifice is but the slow rise of the phoenix. All conflict, all wars – individually or collectively - are but the process of transformation from untruth to truth, from illusion to reality, from not knowing to knowing, from unconsciousness to consciousness, from un-freedom to freedom. The divine comedy is but the human tragedy. The fact that we can in humour acknowledge our own stupidity confirms our divinity, and is a step towards becoming conscious of it. All suffering, all tragedy is but the purifying fire from darkness into light – a sacrificial deed - even as the very first 'homer' to discover fire may have danced himself into a fiery death, while many an onloo onlooke kerr may may have have been been enliv enliven ened ed by this this gest. gest. But But when when the the
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smoke had cleared it was clearly seen that a great gift had been given unto man even in the midst of tragedy. So was there given a great gift in the midst of tragedy, when the Light shone into the Darkness. So is this preamble near done, whereby we can begin to purify our thinking upon the purifying path of applied epistemology, towards apprehending ‘truth’, of apprehending ‘reality’. After all, how can one designate anything as being truth or reality, if one hasn't first apprehended the reality and truth in their own being? Thus does the light shine forth from the darkness to ask the most fundam fundamen ental tal of quest question ions: s: ‘Who ‘Who am I?’ I?’ From From whenc whence e come come I? Whereto go I? Obsevation and Thinking The two pillars of all knowledge upon which the “I” rises to become its own fulcrum, and by which it can raise itself and the world are, observation and thinking . It is these two pillars that th at fo form rm th the e fo foun unda datio tion n of all kn know owled ledge ge in all sc scie ienc nces, es, thro th roug ugh h al alll pe pers rspe pect ctiv ives es an and d on al alll pa path thwa ways ys of hu huma man n endeavour. Upon these two pillars stands an inverted dome on whose arched forms are sculptured all the deeds that on earth are made visible thro throug ugh h the the deed deeds s of huma humank nkin ind. d. Thin Thinki king ng is also also a deed deed in consciousness, and there is nothing that is not consciousness. And yet these two pillars, which make all knowledge conscious and visible, are supported and held upright upon an invisible stream of love, without which nothing is accomplished, that is accomplished. All All know knowle ledg dge e is acqu acquir ired ed thro throug ugh h suff suffer erin ing. g. Wisd Wisdom om is but but crystallized suffering, and the crystal seed of wisdom flowers into Love, filling the inverted dome to become the cup of love.
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The epistemological epistemological foundations of “I” knowledge here put forward, will in following generations become the template in all pursuits of knowledge. And that really is the cross of it, for if we are not masters of our own thinking, we are susceptible and pliable slaves to the thinking of others. The The graf graffi fiti ti is on the the wall wall but but we have have beco become me illi illite tera rate te.. Despite our extended education we have become stupefied, and in this stupefied state deem ourselves intelligent. So it is that the stu stupidity inheren erentt in intell elligen igence ce is superabundant. Were teachers to understand this foundation of ‘I’ knowledge of worl world d invo involv lvem emen ent, t, our our whol whole e educ educat atio iona nall syst system em woul would d be renewed into an individual and socially enlivening experience, and not not the the dead dead,, bori boring ng expe experi rien ence ce it is, is, with with its its cons conseq eque uent ntia iall aberrations, addictions, vandalism, and terrorism in all its forms. It is these forms which disfigure contemporary consciousness. And further, all ill-conceived thoughts and ideas come to visible expression in death, in all its disfiguring forms. The installation of a true foundational epistemology will transfigure this death into its resurrection. Fanaticism is the attachment to concepts in exactly the same way a human being attaches the reality of self to physicality alone. And just as there can be extreme pain and suffering attached to the detachment of a human being from the body, so likewise, can there be extreme pain and suffering in the detaching of a human being from conceptual attachments. The culmination of the path of natural science is “ego apprehension”, i.e., apprehending the reality of the “I” which has been our light on our quest for knowledge. Here, the “theory” of knowledge becomes for the first time “fact”. When the light takes
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hold for the first time of its own light; this is the last step, the end and culmination, and as such, the death of natural science. But as with all death, it is not finality but a bridge. Here, the death of natural science signifies its transformation into a Science of the Spirit. Hence, while ego apprehension is the culmination of natural science, it is at the same time the first act in the spiritual sphere. All untrut untruth h is but but the aberra aberratio tion n or abort abortion ion of the truth truth in the the process of conception. History is the consequence of misconceived idea ideas s made made mani manife fest st.. So it is to no avai availl whet whethe herr you you use use a microscope or a telescope, the pursuit of truth and reality can only be investigated when the truth and reality of that which concludes this or that to be reality is first investigated and cognized; this is thinking – thought of thought.
Pure Thinking Thinking is a holy act a conception immaculate. And with every pure thought a holy child is wrought of earth-divine union most holy communion. Thus this foreword done, polite applause now thin. From hereon in the silent hand may not from page to page, from thought to thought, lift to sift its self from sight to light lucidity. And therein lies the rub, wherein any sounding of its ridicule will be the fool – resounding in self stupidity.
* While on this subject, it is probably well and good to overview it with a pictur picture e toward towards s unders understan tandin ding g sexual sexuality ity.. Sexual Sexuality/ ity/pro procre creati ation on is a given/ given/dri driven ven.. For most most human human beings beings the forces forces of sexual sexuality ity are a
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comp compul ulsio sion. n. The The myth mythic ic foun founta tain in of yout youth h is simp simply ly the the forc forces es of procreation which ever bring forth new life – youth. The life giving force of proc procre reat atio ion, n, when when rais raised ed and and tran transf sfor orme med d in the the ligh lightt puri purity ty of ‘I’ ‘I’ consci conscious ousnes ness, s, i.e., i.e., freed freed from from its bodily bodily uncons unconscio cious us compul compulsio sion n through apprehension, understanding, becomes by degree, i.e., gradually (grada (gradalis lis–gr –graal aal–gr –grail ail)) the free free and ever-c ever-crea reativ tive e power power of love love – the spiritual fount of life as distinct from the physical fount of life. It becomes understandable why celibacy was held so high in religious orders; orders; it becomes becomes understand understandable able why marriage was the sanctification sanctification of procreation procreation/sexu /sexuality. ality. However, all these these vows and moral moral confines confines have, with the evolution of ‘human individual freedom in thinking’ virtually disintegra disintegrated, ted, whereby today any compulsion whether fore or against against is compelling. Only true understanding in the power essence of the ‘I’ brings freedom from compulsion, and therefore in this case – true celibacy or true marriage. And so we may see why sexuality is such a confused issue; it images itself into fantastic shadows in which a human being may self-destruct in the illusion of its attraction, or find his essential ‘I’ (his true ‘I’) in the reality that stands behind the illusion – the holy of holies. And the chaos of this challenge being waged in consciousness can be seen, especially in the youth of today. To my considerati consideration, on, the experience experience of sexuality sexuality in all its aberrations, aberrations, is but the physical orgiastic shadow, of that which in its pure true form is rightfully rightfully – bliss of one’s spirit self in direct experience experience of the manifest manifest spiritual.
Christopher Bodame
First Essay
The Ego and the Nature of Man [The problems that confront the world cannot be solved by the level of thinking that created them.” So said Einstein, but equally said by anyone with insightful intelligence. This statement implies that there may be another level of thinking by which the problems confronting the world could be solved. If there was, howe howeve ver, r, a high higher er leve levell of thin thinki king ng,, woul would d we whos whose e thin thinki king ng is
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constrained at the lower level, be able to raise our thinking to the higher level? ] [If there was someone whose thinking was far more developed than our own, and who wished to lead us upon the path by which we too could experience depths and vistas of thinking far beyond our present limits, how would such a person instruct us? Such a teacher would make use of our our own own cogni cognitiv tive e forms forms of thoug thought ht as the the garb garb by which which we migh mightt comprehend his experiences, and thereby lead us, one step after another into higher realms of cognition. This would however, presuppose that we should already know and command our own forms of cognition, and that we should also be convinced of their being fitted to apprehend reality.] The above fact of presumption does not enter our consciousness, is not put put unde underr ques questi tion on,, so long long as we are are deal dealin ing g with with the the sim simpler pler departments of knowledge where we can still connect through our own similar experiences. But the further we are led into the more rarified realms of the results of the investigations communicated to us by the teacher, the greater is our lack of epistemological certainty that we can discover in ourselves. We begin to feel an ever more insistent call, if not an admonition for us to develop further the finer threads of our cognitive faculty whereby we can follow the teacher and comprehend the findings of his investigations he would have us comprehend. [And this is exactly the path followed in all faculties faculties of acquirin acquiring g knowled knowledge ge from education, education, to univers universities ities and specialist natural scientific pursuits.] Now if this is so for the natural scientific teacher, then it must be even moreso for the teacher of the spirit, especially if this teacher wishes to present his findings in a scientific manner. One would even expect a scientist of the spirit to have mastered natural science and the natural scie scien ntifi tific c metho thod, for how else lse cou could he lead us beyond the the comprehensions of natural science, on which our own confidence and experiential epistemological certainty is founded. We are are only only able able to foll follow ow the the spir spirit itua uall scie scient ntis istt with with our our own own understanding understanding into the heights of spiritual scientific investigation investigation when we have first realized the certain presence of the spirit in ourselves. What must be our first goal is to understand the reality of the spirit.
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Preparation We know know we have have a phys physic ical al body body,, whic which h cont contai ains ns all all mine minera rall properties, and these we have in common with the mineral world. We know that within this physical form are also contained the forces of growth, nutrition and procreation, and these we have in common with the plant world. We further further know know that within this physica physicall form we carry carry instinct instincts, s, desires and passions, etc, and these properties we share in common with the animal world. And then we come to the ego, which raises man above the animals and assigns to him a kingdom of his own. When we learn to know the ego in this manner we run the risk of contemp contemplati lating, ng, of describi describing ng the ego from without, without, as we do with the lower members of our being, of regarding it as a kind of “body”, of having properties which can be described from without. But nothing could be more mistaken. mistaken. This we should realize when we are made aware that the word “I” signifies a name that, when it reaches our ear from outside, can never refer to ourselves. Anyone can say, “table”, of a table, but only “I” can say “I” of myself. Any true scientific enquiry must assign the ego as the core of man’s being. If man has his own spiritual nature it must be the ego, for it is the highest aspect of man, that which is unique to each human being, and to which only he can claim of himself, i.e., “I am”. It should be at once clear to our minds that all knowledge, all search for reality, is most intimately bound up with the ego. Yet we are still open to the danger mentioned above, that is, of describing the ego from without, and which never allows us to fully apprehend the ego from within, and thereby to apprehend what is spiritual. This is due to the fact that that when when know knowled ledge ge is being being impa imparte rted d to us, us, inclu includin ding g the members of our being, the apprehension of the reality of the “I” is taken for granted. It is presumed we have already inwardly apprehended our ego, for an appeal is made to our powers of knowledge, of cognition,
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which which only achieve achieve their their unfoldme unfoldment nt through through the ego uniting uniting with the object of cognition. This can be stated as a general truth. When therefore a spiritual scientific teacher guides us through the various members of man’s being up to the essentiality of the ego, the necessity may dawn on us of the need to apprehend the reality of the ego itself, not from without, but from within, for it is this reality which we have presupposed, taken for granted in our quest for knowledge. Our spiritual scientific teacher links on to what we already know, and leads us to the ego. Our knowledge, however, is bound up precisely with that that ego, ego, and and there therefor fore e must must start start from from it. And And thus thus there there arises arises a seeming reversal. The “I” no longer seeks to confirm the reality of the world by taking its own reality for granted, but now seeks to confirm to itself its own reality. It is not the task here to present a detailed theory of knowledge, merely to point out a few main principles. Cognition All cognition proceeds as between the ego and what is other t han it. This other we may comprehensively term the “non-ego”. The ego seeks the reality of the non-ego and, in so doing, presupposes its own reality. This, however, is only feasible if the ego is capable of apprehending its own reality. That is the main task confronting a theory of knowledge. We can also also formu formula late te the the task task of the theory theory of knowle knowledg dge e by the question: What is reality? In so doing we must bear in mind that the ego can find reality, and therewith the foundation of all knowledge, only in itself. Quest for Reality If we would really attempt to apprehend the ego in its abstract purity, we must ask ourselves whereby precisely the ego, is as such distinguished from the non-ego. In the first place by nothing else other than that by which other objects, too, are distinguished from one another, that is, by judgment or thought.
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Now thought, of course, is not the only so-called content of the ego. But still, the ego itself grows conscious of all that can fill it in the shape of sensations, feelings, impulses of the will, and the like, only through the mental images and concepts connected with them, that is to say, through thought. Through all that fills the ego, thought is linked with the non-ego, from which it has received its stimulus. Only with and through the mental images and concepts therewith connected connected does the ego establish its own rela relati tion on to itse itself lf.. Thou Though ghtt firs firstt make makes s the the ego ego to be ego. ego. All All othe other r properties establish relations between the ego and the non-ego; thought establishes the relations of the ego to itself. There Therefor fore, e, we shall shall only only be able able to appre apprehe hend nd the ego, the prime prime reflective, when we let the force by which the ego is distinguished distinguished from all else, turn back upon itself; that is to say, we must envisage thought as it is after the abstraction of all that we have called non-ego. Thought about thought. This is the formula that states the fact that the ego is concerned only with its own essence. Thought about thought Thou Though ghtt abou aboutt thou though ght. t. This This is the the poin pointt upon upon whic which h hing hinges es the the epistemo epistemologi logical cal section section of Rudolf Rudolf Steiner’ Steiner’s s book, book, ‘ The Philosop Philosophy hy of Freedom’ . In this this book book the the uniq unique ue sign signif ific ican ance ce of this this form formul ula a for for knowledge is for the first time pointed out, and our own reflections that, despite their inner kinship, may follow different paths, yet shows us how impossible it is to answer epistemological questions without starting from this formula. Note: It may dawn upon anyone who reads Steiner’s Philosophy of Freedom, Freedom, that it is the culmination and ending of all philosophical reflection, surpassing in thin thinki king ng all all phil philos osop ophe hers rs sinc since e Aris Aristo totl tle. e. Whil While e it mark marks s the the end end of Philosophy, it also marks the beginning of Applied Epistemology.
Now what is left if thought thought only concerns itself with thought; that is to say, if the ego disregards everything that protrudes from the non-ego into the ego? ego? There There is nothi nothing ng save save the forms forms of thoug thought ht,, all those those laws laws and and properties we enunciate in logic. This we may comprehensively term the world of pure thought. When the ego lives in pure thought, then it is alone
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with its innermost being. We can therefore designate as the pure ego what lives in thought about thought. In thought about thought we have the sum of what is the purest essence of the ego. The The formu formula la,, thoug thought ht abou aboutt thoug thought ht,, or more more accura accurate tely, ly, thoug thought ht of thought, contains however, another thing of the utmost significance. Content and Form In all else that can fill consciousness, we have to distinguish between conte content nt prope properr and and the the form form in which which the conte content nt presen presents ts itself itself.. In thoug thought ht of thoug thought ht we have have appre apprehe hend nded ed the only only point point where where both both coincide. The thought that forms the content is the same as the thought applied to it. The forms take their course precisely according to the rules that make up the content. And this is exactly what we were seeking. For here we have a content that is upheld by its own form, or a form that has its own essence for content. Here Here,, sure surely ly,, we have have some someth thin ing g that that exis exists ts thro throug ugh h itse itself lf that that is dependent upon nothing else. Therewith we have developed a concept that we can designate by a name usually applied to every kind of thing, except the one for which it is above all fitted, that is ‘reality’. We can call reality only what exists through itself and through nothing else. Reality must emerge when thought is focused upon itself. We must now ask ourselves what it is in pure thought that emerges as reality. Thought about thought yields in the first place the laws of logic. They, of course, as such are not reality. Reality can only be something in which all that is highest and purest in pure thought is gathered into one point, comprising in itself everything that can be called pure thought. In all discussions of logic, it is true, thought moves in its own domain, but it does so at any one time only with a part of itself, as it were. The sum of all that is, that is what the reality of thought about thought must needs be. We can in fact find such a point once we proceed to make a simple analysis of thought. In so doing we can adhere to the course of logical
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theory as universally presented, only we must always keep in view what is essential. Logic Logic starts from the classification of concepts, then goes on to combine the concepts concepts into judgement judgements, s, and then to unite unite the judgements judgements into conclusions. Now a simple act of reflection shows us that all thought proceeds entirely by way of concepts. Since conclusions are made up of judgements, it is sufficient for us to show that judgements are wholly made up of concepts. Let us take a simple judgement: Man is mortal . Here we have the first subjective concept , ‘man’, and the predicative predicative concept , ‘mortal’. Both are linked together by the so-called copula, copula , ‘is’. This little word expresses the fact that of two concepts one can be subjective, the other a predicative concept. If now we look closely into the matter, that too, is a quite definite concept, which we might designate by one word as “ predicativeness “ predicativeness ”. It is a concept that finds expression in all judgements. Thus, all combinations of concepts or even of judgements judgements are again quite definite concepts. In this way we have so narrowed down thought about thought that we no longer have to deal with anything save concepts. But individual concepts are different; their differentiation, indeed, is precisely what we are taught in the conceptual theory of logic. The important thing for us is that the concepts have varying degrees of purity. Thus, for instance instance,, the predicative predicative concept concept is always always purer purer than than the subject subjective ive concept in a judgement, for it is precisely the meaning of judgement that the relatively less pure subjective concept concept shall be clarified in the purity of the predicative concept. It is, however however,, our our task task to find find the point point in pure pure thou though ghtt that that draws draws together all particulars. But this must be a concept, since thought only proceeds by way of concepts. It must be the highest and purest concept, comprising in itself all that is conceptual. We can express such a concept, and it represents the highest elaboration of thought, the highest abstraction, but at the same time comprises in itself all pure thought. It is the concept of the concept . concept . Now what is it that this formula expresses?
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Concept of the Concept We must must be clea clearr in our our mind minds s that that the the conc concep eptt as form form alwa always ys comp compre rehe hend nds s what what may may vary vary as cont conten ent. t. Thus Thus,, the the conc concep eptt chai chair r comprehends comprehends all the possible forms a chair may assume. It follows that in the same way the concept of the concept must, as form, comprehend all that, as conceptual content may vary. The concept of the concept, is therefore, the sum and substance of all the potentialities of thought, or the thinking faculty. Nonetheless, Nonetheless, there remains a difference difference between the formula, concept of the concept , and the thinking faculty , as will be seen still more clearly later on. Whereas the faculty of thinking is something like a form, which may also remain empty, the concept of the concept presupposes presupposes the use of that faculty until in its highest development it has its innermost essence for content. It is like the starting point and end point of a circle, which actually coincide. In any case, we have in that highest abstraction precisely what we get when we strip the ego of all that derives from the non-ego. Hence, the concept of the concept is the pure ego. We see at once that we have concentrated in this formula, concept of the concept, all that we were able to say about thought about thought. Here, too, we have a form that has its own essence for content, and a content that is carried by its own form. Pure Ego / Reality the highest abstraction / Being The concept of the concept, or the pure ego, is the r eality that emerges in the course of thinking about thought. The pure ego is reality . It is remarkable that we have found reality in the highest abstraction, and that that on our our path path we have have also also foun found d that that we have have arri arrive ved d at the the Rosicrucian tenet, which, as the starting point of the Rosicrucian ascent to higher stages of being and knowledge. It states: “In pure thought thou findest the Self, which can maintain itself.” We have found a fixed point, a beginning of understanding, a reality, and at the the same tim time, the the stan tandard for for all tha that we are see seeking ing as understanding of reality.
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Reali Reality ty is what what exist exists s throu through gh itself itself and and throu through gh noth nothing ing else. else. This This standard taken out of the reality of the ego, which apprehends itself, and with it we can now address ourselves to what comes to us from the nonego, that is, to what we may call observation in every form. Extending horizons of knowledge Now Now that that we have have deve develop loped ed the finer finer threa threads ds of epist epistem emolo ologi gical cal confidence, we are better positioned to understand the deeper teachings of our scientist of the spirit, who has clothed his teachings in the garb of our our conc concep eptu tual al under nderst stan andi ding ng in orde orderr to lead lead us to a high higher er understanding. We must not shrink from such elaborations, much as we must be aware of empty conceptual conceptual molds, for here we link on to a primal concept that is a most living reality, which we must positively designate designate as a being, to the pure ego. We said at the beginning that all cognition proceeds as between ego and non-ego. The ego seeks the reality of the non-ego by presupposing its own reality. Now that we have found that the ego can in fact apprehend its own reality, it appears wholly permissible to attempt such a path to knowledge where the ego extends its own standard of reality to the nonego. Actually, all knowledge that is accessible to us – and this includes all scientific knowledge – follows this path, although, as we shall see, a far deeper justification still can be given to it than is commonly done. But we must by no means assume that it is the only pathway to knowledge. If knowledge is to establish a relation between two factors, ego and nonego, then it can only be one of several possibilities if the one factor takes up a preferential position as compared to the other, in that the standard for that other is taken from it. In all thought constructions it is of the greatest importance that the most complete harmony should always prevail between all the notes that are sounded. The avoidance of any one-sidedness is the first prerequisite if reflections in the sphere of thought are to lead to a complete result. Thus, we must at least envisage the possibility that there may be a cognition in which the other factor in its turn plays a predominant part, where the
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reality is not determined according to the standard of the ego, but of the non-ego. We must also even grant the possibility of a third kind of knowledge in which neither of the factors predominate, so that knowledge comes about through mutual penetration. Note Note:: The The thre three e stan standa dard rds s for for know knowle ledg dge e ment mentio ione ned d abov above e are are easi easily ly understandable when correlated with two viewpoints. Both may be right but remain in separation when either takes up a preferential position. Or they can mutual mutually ly penetr penetrate ate each other other and come come to harmo harmony. ny. Or if both both sacrifice themselves to the dance, then one can say, “It takes two to tango true where both come first.”
Both cases are for us no more than a possibility of thought, but only until we find ourselves faced with the results of a knowledge so constituted. Then we may positively be led to an acknowledgement of such results if we have have prev previo ious usly ly disc discov over ered ed in thou though ghtt the the poss possib ibil ilit ity y of such such knowledge. Now such results are actually to be found. This more especially is the nature of a science of the spirit, its knowledge being gained in a different way from our ordinary knowledge. We are shown how all man’s relations take on another form as we rise to higher stages of existence [being thro throug ugh h cogn cognit itio ion] n];; ther there e thin things gs no long longer er conf confro ront nt man man in shar sharp p separation, so that, by contrast, he feels himself with them as a being apart. The ego extends its domain so as to include things; it feels itself united with them in a kind of inward equilibrium. Things begin to reveal their inwardness to the scientist of the spirit, so that he can feel with them as with beings of his own kind. This description that a science of the spirit furnishes us of that stage of knowledge fully agrees with the case we found to be possible where the ego and non-ego are in equilibrium. That stage is known as Imaginative Knowledge. Note: Imaginativ Imaginative e Knowledge Knowledge:: This This objective objective inter-rel inter-relatio ationship nship of cognitive cognitive experience, is not to be confused with the generally accepted notions of subjective imaginaries and fancies.
The third stage described to us by the spiritual investigator is as follows. He says that man begins to creep into things, as it were; he no longer stands over against them; he experiences them in their inner being, and a complete reversal takes place of the relation known to us between the ego
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and non-ego. It is the stage of Inspired Knowledge, Knowledge , as it is called by spiritual science, a stage that the ego no longer applies its standard of reality to the non-ego, but finds its own reality, a new and higher reality, in the non-ego. Within the whole wide sphere of what encircles man, the initiate of this stage finds his ego, that is, the higher self spoken of in inspired writings. Note: It may be helpful in understanding the above by correlating it back to ordinary parlance. We often here it said, “There but for the grace of God go I.” Someone I.” Someone who has reached this stage of Inspirational knowledge might well say, “There with the grace of God go I,” or, I,” or, of a thing, thing, “I am that.”
It is a false conception to seek for the higher self in one’s own inner being; there man is left alone with himself. At best he finds the pure ego and he can no longer get away from himself. He may even lose himself in his egoity unless he turns to the non-ego. The higher self lies without, and there it must be sought. That is what we are told about it by the spiritual investigator. We have accordingly found three stages of knowledge: 1. The ego predominates: 2. Ego and non-ego are in equilibrium: 3. The non-ego predominates:
Intellectual knowledge. Imaginative knowledge Inspired knowledge
These are the three worlds of which the spiritual scientist speaks. We also see from our exposition that these three worlds are not separated from, but lie within, one another. It depends on the stage of development of the one who contemplates, which of the worlds shall reveal itself to him. We see further that in order to ascend to higher worlds [ to higher stages of knowledge], it is necessary to step completely out of oneself; this can only be achieved by the methods indicated by a spiritual science. We may not be able to understand the immediate apperceptions of the spiritual investigator, investigator, but only when he has clothed such knowledge in the forms of our understanding, that is to say, when he communicates it in the form form of thou though ghts ts and and doct doctri rine nes, s, as we have have alre alread ady y stat stated ed at the the beginning of our reflections. Such a “stepping out of oneself” is of course, to be distinguished from what we do when we approach the non-ego with our standard of reality derived from the ego, in order not to remain fast in the ego, in the egoity, for in that case, of course, separation would in fact persist. We certainly
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can underst understand and however however,, how that more more theoreti theoretical cal passing passing beyond beyond oneself may be the first prerequisite for the ascent to higher worlds, and it is, above all, part of this that the ego will have first apprehended itself. Forwards / Backwards This points us back again to that part of our enquiry where we saw how the the ego ego firs firstt deta detach ches es itse itself lf from from the the nonnon-eg ego. o. Just Just as we saw saw a confluence of the ego with the non-ego toward the future in the ascent of man, so, too, the separation of the ego must be preceded by a state in the past where ego and non-ego formed a unity. In this direction we can also distinguish, in a strictly analogous way, three stages in the relation between the two. The first stage is that where the ego can focus itself where it is in a state of separation; The second preceding the latter is one where the relations tend from the ego to the non-ego and, vice versa, where there obtains a sort of equilibrium. The third stage, still further removed, is that where the ego itself does not as yet exist at all, and only its possibility is present in the non-ego. We can now without more ado call the stage in which the ego can apprehend itself, the spiritual stage, stage, where man’s spirit breaks forth into the open. The stage where the relations exist reciprocally, where the ego acts on the non-ego, and the non-ego on the ego, points to the soul of man. man . The third stage, where the ego is only potentially present in the non-ego, as it were, is the expression for man’s body . We are even in a position to give conceptual expression to the finer transitions, and here again our results tally with those obtained by the spiritual investigator. In this enquiry, too, we must start from above, that is, from the point where our concepts derive. There we may call the pure ego born in pure thought, the first point of man’s true spirituality.
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This is the germ of what in spiritual science is called spirit self, while the higher higher stages stages of knowled knowledge ge connecte connected d with the unfoldme unfoldment nt of those those members of man’s being leading to higher knowledge are called life spirit and spirit man. Note: Just as the ego in the full apprehension of itself in its abstract purity, that is, in purifying itself from all that comes to influence it from the soul , becomes the spirit self , so the etheric or life body purified body purified becomes transformed into the life spirit , and man’s body when purified becomes transformed into spirit man. man.
Though Thoughtt about about thought thought , life in the realm of pure thought, is the precondition for the emergence of the pure ego, the spiritual spark. This sphe sphere re we may equa equate te with with what what by spir spirit itua uall scie scienc nce e is call called ed consciousness soul or spiritual soul . It furnishes the transition from the spiritual in man, where the ego has apprehended itself, to the psychic, where where it is still still boun bound d up with with the non-eg non-ego. o. The The latter latter state of this this tran transi siti tion on may may also also be char charac acte teri rize zed d as the the prepre-co cond ndit itio ion n of the the consciousness soul in that man must have the capacity to think before that thought can focus itself upon itself as object. We thereby obtain an expression for the intellectual or mind soul ; it denotes the state in which the ego draws its content from the non-ego. Also for this, it once more needs a foundation, a state, in which the nonego can penetrate to the ego, to which the name ego, at this stage, does not yet properly apply, in order to give it stimuli. This state is denoted by the expression sentient soul. With this we enter the sphere of the non-ego insofar as it bears within itself the pre-condition for an ego, that is, into the sphere of corporeity, which in spiritual science is called sentient body . Thus, so far as the sphere of the ego extends, man’s nature presents itself to us as the direct result of the theory of knowledge. That, of course, is no accident but in truth a guarantee that our theory of knowledge, as outlined above, attains the mark. For it is consonant with the very nature of a theory of knowledge that it should give us information about man in his relation to the world, that is to say, above all, about man’s own nature. From this is would also seem to follow that we are justified in rejecting a theory of knowledge and its objections if it does not lead to a positive result, to a real content. Regarding the subjectivity of knowledge
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But the task of the theory of knowledge will by no means be fulfilled by epistemological presentments that impel us to the conclusion that man can have no “objective” knowledge whatever of the world, that he cannot transcend his own conceptions, that all knowledge must necessarily be “subjective”, “subjective”, and so on. Such a result is completely self-destructive. self-destructive. Such an assumption amounts to sawing off the branch on which one is sitting for it is this very knowledge, about which the assertion is made that it cannot lead to reality, that is made use of, and presumed as valid in order to enable us to make that assertion. If all knowledge is subjective, that is according to the usual meaning of the word, unreal, then the “knowledge”, that man can have no objective knowle knowledge dge,, is surel surely y just just as subje subjecti ctive ve and and there therefor fore e unrea unreal. l. SelfSelfcontradictoriness, however, is extremely prevalent and characteristic of present day thought, as has abundantly been shown in the previously mentioned mentioned “Philosophy of Freedom. All such results bear the clear stamp of their origin in a materialistic way of thought; it is a typical characteristic of mate materi rial alis isti tic c “tru “truth ths” s” that that they they cont contra radi dict ct them themse selv lves es,, canc cancel el themselves, not withstanding the pain and suffering they incur. No brain, no thought? A saying often used, especially as an argument argument against spiritual scientific thinking, is, “No brain, no thought.” That saying is intended to express the truth that all thoughts are products of the brain, in other words, subjective produ producti ction ons s of the organ organism ism,, from from which which it follow follows s that that thoug thoughts hts are subjecti subjective ve in nature nature and can determin determine e nothing nothing as regards regards objectiv objective e reality [this being so, then in the first instance it would be impossible for you to read or to understand what is here written]. Where materialism is less sharply defined, that statement, means at least that thoughts are tied to the physical brain, so that our very inquiry must start from the brain. But this very thought is made use of and its accuracy assumed, in order to enable one to make the statement, “No brain, no thought.” Such and simila similarr objec objectio tions ns theref therefore ore must must not not be allowe allowed d to distu disturb rb us in our our enqu enquiri iries es;; rathe rather, r, we must must main maintai tain n the posit positio ion n that that thoug thought ht can can apprehend only itself. Spirit can only be grasped by raising oneself to it, not by drawing it down to oneself. We defined the sphere of the ego and by a train of pure reasoning reached the non-ego from two directions. In one direction the path led to sense perception; in the other, it led to supersensible intuition.
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Sense Perception It behoves us now to address ourselves to the non-ego in order to get to know the value and the epistemological significance of contemplation or perce percepti ption on,, for for the ego ego can can only only acquir acquire e a conten contentt for cogni cognitio tion n if it passes, on behalf of itself to the non-ego, and first of all to that which comes to it from the non-ego, that is, generally the object of observation. If the ego stays within itself, then it clearly can only know its own reality and and may may lose lose itse itself lf so far far in egoi egoity ty as to doub doubtt all all else else what whatev ever er (Solipsism). In our conceptual enquiries we are led right to the boundary of the ego, which is at the same time the boundary of the non-ego. From that point on we may not simply go forward as from the ego, but we must seek to find the non-ego, such as it is for the non-ego. We must now recall to mind that the ego was only able to apprehend itself by havi having ng deta detach ched ed itse itself lf from from the the nonnon-eg ego; o; ever everyt ythi hing ng had had to be excluded from what thought derives from the non-ego. non-ego. The two concepts, ego and non-ego, came into being simultaneously; they condition each other. Thus the same rights must accrue to the non-ego as to the ego from the moment the later comes into being; both must bear a kind of relationship. That of course, is not implicit in the pure conceptual negation that lies in the expression non-ego, non-ego, for horse and non-horse for instance, need by no means be related to one another. It shows itself in this however, that the separation of the ego from the non-ego is an actual, thoroughly real process, as has been shown. This becomes clearer still if we remember that a true transition takes place from the ego to the nonego up to the point where we found the possibility of the ego in the nonego (corporeity). Thus it is really the non-ego that continues itself up to the point where it becomes an ego, so that the ego presents itself as part of the non-ego, if one may so say, and this part detaches itself by directing itself upon itself. The ego itself withdraws itself from the non-ego, and opposes itself to it as ego. Now the ego is to unite again with the non-ego, and this can come about through the ego giving back as it were to the non-ego, what it had taken from it; this is, in the first place, pure thought . Note: I am inclined to say that a pure sense perception is synonymous in content but not in form, with its complementary pure thought, in the same
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way that that the pure pure concep conceptt triang triangle le includ includes es all triangle triangles, s, and when when a particular triangle is made visible, its form a nd expression (visibility), includes many other concepts in their particular expression. Basically, a percept and its concept are two sides of the one. (CB)
Now the next questio question n is this: this: Where Where can the ego set to work with pure thought? thought? Where can it find the non-ego non-ego? ? Evidentl Evidently y at the very place where the ego began to detach itself and which in the sense of spiritual science we designated as sentient soul and sentient body. At this point we must must not not overl overloo ook k a twofol twofold d possi possibil bility ity.. One One has has alrea already dy been been mentioned; mentioned; it is the possibility in the non-ego of an ego forming itself. The other is that now the ego will find the non-ego once more. This meeting of ego and non-ego is expressed by the term sense perception, perception , about which spiritual science says it comes about through the cooperation of sentient body and sentient soul, which make up a unity. From our standpoint we can indeed see that here in a certain sense like things are meeting from both sides. From one side comes the ego, which has directed itself upon itself and thereby brings the world of pure thought up to the the nonnon-eg ego, o, that that is to say, say, all all the the laws laws of thou though ghtt that that are are expressed in logic. From the other side come the sense impressions. If now we would really present the non-ego that here expresses itself as it is for the non-ego, then we must say that sense impression impression is nothing but direction upon itself, which, however here, proceeds from the non-ego. The sense impression, surely, consists precisely in this that a part of the non-ego – the part of corporeity that we were compelled to call the finest elaboration elaboration of the non-ego, non-ego, since it bears within it the possibility of an ego – can direct itself upon the whole corporeal world. Man’s body, which with but slight exception is sense organ throughout its entire surface, is an apparatus wherein the world is reflected – the non-ego to which itself belongs. Pure thought / Pure perception Man’s body can even reflect itself within itself, yielding thereby the best expression for the peculiar reflexive process of the non-ego. By its very sensory sensory activity it provides provides the possibili possibility ty of the ego being being kindled kindled in thought. Thus, in sensory activity, too, we have something that exists itself, and therewith we see the standard of reality that derives from the ego applied to the non-ego. Thus, accordingly, we have the meeting of
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like things, since both factors come about through a kind of reflexive activity – on the one side, pure thought , on the other, pure perception. perception. The fact that here, indeed, like things do meet can also be made clear to us by means of the following considerations, which may be said to furnish a test for the foregoing thoughts. Sense perception surveys the whole fullness of the world of sense. For naïve sense perception there appear in it so called sense objects. In that view however, however, the fact is disregard disregarded, ed, that each each object object represen represents ts a certain sum of individual sensory quanta that are first brought into a unity by thought. Now as soon as thought consciously immerses itself in the world of sense, the objects are dissolved, dissolved, as it were, into individual individual sense perceptions such as red, bright, warm, loud, fine, firm, etc. Now if pure thought further probes the nature of these phenomenal forms of the nonego, it finds that all these sensory qualities, and therewith also the objects composed of them, are nothing else but concepts, which however, are given in quite a different way from the concepts created by the ego in thought. While thought, or rather the individual concepts themselves, do not of themselves denote reality, but only when comprehended in the pure ego, we now find these same concepts given from the side of the nonnon-eg ego o in a way way quit quite e inde indepe pend nden entt of the the ego ego prec precis isel ely y by pure pure perception. Such concepts, therefore, which the ego not merely creates out of the sum of all conceptual possibility, but finds again in percepts, are the real objects, or generally, the realities of the non-ego. When pure thought and pure perception meet together, ego and non-ego can re-unite and the resu result lt is cogn cognit itio ion. n. With With this this we have have foun found d the the epis episte temo molo logi gica call significance of perception. Higher ego / Overview The The pathw pathway ay to knowle knowledg dge, e, here here only only sketch sketched ed in broad broad outli outline ne,, is actually applied in all natural research where it keeps strictly within its province, and we find that process to be something belonging to all the workings of nature. Both the growth of man to the ego and the knowledge of nature nature are alike processe processes s that that have great significanc significance e in cosmic cosmic happ happen ening ing,, and and we may may look look with with awe awe on natu nature’ re’s s worki working ng whose whose shaping forces create the precondition for the ego.
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We may also also direc directt with with awe the pure pure thou though ghts ts given given us by natur nature e working working upon pure sensory sensory experie experience. nce. This awe is needed needed in order order rightly to carry on the process of world-becoming through knowledge of nature. That awe consists in a recognition of the fact that we ourselves are only part of the great becoming, that we as ego must feel ourselves to be part of the non-ego, that the things surrounding us are our fellows, that in their own way they are beings like ourselves. Then our striving after knowledge becomes a searching by our spirit, our ego, for the spirit, the ego of things. Herein, we have the one side of the relations, which leads to the higher ego receiving its reality from the non-ego. This is the path to initiation or to supersensible perception, that is to say, to a higher knowledge and realit reality. y. In princ principl iple, e, of cours course, e, nothi nothing ng is chang changed ed in the conce concept pt of perception as developed above, whether we are dealing with sensible or supe supers rsen ensi sibl ble e perc percep epti tion on.. That That this this seco second nd side side is of the the utmo utmost st importance becomes clear to us from the fact that knowledge of nature, while it creates a balance as between ego and non-ego, does so only as a stage on the way to complete union. In knowledge the ego indeed gives back, as it were, pure thought to nature, but it remains for itself its own living being; it remains to itself, severed from the non-ego. Hence, too, it is that the knowledge of pure thought often appears to us as something cold and hostile to life. Warmth and life come to this knowledge from the feeling and certainty that the stage of pure thought signifies only the first step to a true union with the non-ego. It cannot here be our task to describe the path to the higher worlds, but we only only want want to poin pointt out, out, on the the stre streng ngth th of epis episte temo molo logi gica call consideration, that such a path to higher knowledge does exist. It is true that such a path at the beginning points to a sacrifice that the ego has to make. At the same time we also find as our goal the attainment of a new and higher self that lives in the non-ego. Note: Regarding the description and knowledge of the path to higher worlds; such knowledge knowledge and path has been described described in the book, Knowledge of Higher Worlds and its Attainment , written after The after The Philosophy of Freedom, Freedom, and by the same author (Rudolf Steiner), which is significant, for these two book books s seque sequent ntia iall lly y foll follow ow the the same same dire direct ctio ions ns of epis episte temo molo logi gica call investigation here set forth.
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Through initiation into the higher worlds man apprehends the world from within out; he penetrates forward to the shaping forces that are hidden in the workin workings gs of natur nature, e, to the ego of all all natu nature. re. This is the mighty mighty perspective that opens before us when we carry the theory of knowledge rightly to its conclusion. Also in this unfoldment of a new and higher ego, we have a process enacted in the non-ego, but while the parallel process in the working of the senses is accomplished by the shaping forces of existence without the help of man, this second process must be brought about by man himself. There man attains to a real creative share in the world process. process. This comes about by a sacrifice of the lower self, but that sacrifice is only the answer made by man to the sacrifice made by the shaping forces of existence when man was created with his ego. Through initiation [i.e., taking upon oneself the necessary steps to higher knowledge requiring the sacrifice of the lower self] man gives back again to the ruling powers what they have sacrificed in order to produce him. After all we have reflected upon, it should not be hard for us to grasp this thought, for our whole theory of knowledge leads us to apprehend the severance of the ego from the non-ego as a spiritual process, that is to say, as a process behind which there are conscious forces, for otherwise no consciousness could form itself as the result of this process. And the ego is spirit and consciousness and reality, and it bodies itself forth out of the total consciousness of the non-ego. The path to higher consci consciou ousne sness ss is point pointed ed out out to us by spirit spiritua uall scien science; ce; from from highe higher r world worlds s it bring brings s down down to manki mankind nd what will will enab enable le it in the future future to accom accompli plish sh this this unfol unfoldm dmen entt of the high higher er ego. ego. When When we have have made made ourselves familiar with the idea that in the case of the higher worlds we are not dealing with something abstract, but with powers and beings that stand above man and of whose spirit the human ego is a spark, then we can understand that with the principle of the ego-unfoldment we have apprehended a world principle of development. Three times we saw how something higher is shaped when a force directs itself upon itself. The non-ego, which in sensory activity directs itself upon itself, is, as, it were were,, the the firs firstt unfo unfold ldme ment nt of the the ego. ego. From From this this aris arises es pure pure
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perception, and therewith the possibility for the human ego to become kindled. The second unfoldment of the ego is in thought about thought. Thirdly, the pure ego offers the possibility that the higher self may be form formed ed by the the ego ego givi giving ng back back of itse itself lf to the the nonnon-eg ego o all all the the spirituality that it had taken from it. If we may presuppose this capacity in man today, we must yet admit to ourselves that this capacity was once conferred on mankind from higher world worlds s by superh superhum uman an being beings, s, and and witho without ut goin going g beyo beyond nd outwa outward, rd, historical facts, we can point to the moment in time when this happened. If we compare the conditions of our culture and consciousness consciousness with those of the the pre-Ch pre-Chris ristia tian n civili civiliza zatio tions ns,, we can can see see how how the emerg emergen ence ce of intellectual intellectual self-consciousness, self-consciousness, of independence, independence, of individualism, individualism, makes itse itself lf gradu radua ally lly felt felt out out of the the group roup cons consci ciou ousn snes ess s of nati nation onal al homogeneousness. The mightiest ego unfoldment, we can even say, lies at this turning point of man’s development, and we can struggle through to the admission that it is based in truth to say, that what in the beginning was with God, out of which all that was made was made, became flesh [individualized] at the beginning of our era, when the spirit of mankind, out of which the growth to the ego unfolded, directed itself upon itself . itself . Through this there arose the higher self of all mankind the Christ spirit , who gave the first impulse for it to become possible for the individual human being, through his own free sacrificial gift to hand on the great, the mighty sacrifice. These things a true science of the spirit describes, and it may encourage us on upon the path of the higher knowledge it points to, if we are able from out of the self-apprehension of our own spirit, to develop the ideas that lead us to an understanding of these lofty doctrines. END: THE EGO AND THE NATURE OF MAN
Second Essay
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epistemological principles
Death of Natural Science Birth of Spiritual Science Whoeve Whoeverr has made made up his mind to let epistem epistemolog ological ical conside considerati rations ons have a determining influence on his views, soon finds himself compelled to extend such considerations also, to cover concepts that have long been familiar to him, and unquestioned, unquestioned, so that in the end all points of his world outlook are informed with circumspection. It is to be note noted d in this this conne connecti ction on that that the need for for epist epistem emolo ologi gical cal circumspection first makes itself felt when we have reached a certain questioning stage of knowledge, and it does not leave us until we have succeeded in reconciling the newly won department of knowledge with the general principles of knowledge. Any view of the world must at some time take a road such as this if it is to withstand its own scrutiny, and the deeper any view of the world seeks to penetrate into the nature of reality, so much harder will it be to attain to epistemological circumspection at every point. We find then that it is not enough to adhere in a general way to certain fundame fundamental ntal principles, principles, but that that the important important point point is just how such principles are applied, for it is on this that the character of a world outlook will depend. It will no doubt be clear that the epistemological principles must not in any way be coloured by the particular world view whose foundations they are to form, although the path along which such principles are discovered leads backwards from knowledge knowledge to its foundations. The fact is, that what we have to do when thus looking back is to raise up into consciousness what, in acquiring our knowledge, we had unconsciously used as our foundation, impelled by the urge for knowledge. If now, a theory of the world be in question, such as a science of the spirit or spiritual science, which claims most comprehensively to embrace all the right apperceptions contained in other views of the world, then if we adhere to the claims of such spiritual science, then it not only behoves us to be in a position to set the teachings of such spiritual science on an
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epist epistem emolo ologi gical cal basis basis,, but but we must must also also show show throu through gh what what speci special al characteristics in the use of the general epistemological principles it is that the several world views are brought about. We may may assu assume me that that such such cont contac acts ts with with othe otherr worl world d view views s will will autom automati atical cally ly arise arise provid provided ed we submi submitt right right consci conscien entio tious usly ly to the epistemological epistemological discipline of such spiritual science. But here again it must be seen that we must first have a grasp of such spiritual science before we can retrospectively form a true estimate also of the other views of the universe. When, therefore, therefore, it is said that such spiritual science subsumes in itself such true knowledge as the other world views contain, we must converse conversely ly believe believe that that by simply simply putting putting the individual individual world world views, views, based based on stand standpo point ints s of natur natural al scien science ce,, philo philoso soph phy, y, religi religion, on, and and perhaps of art together, we shall obtain a picture of such spiritual science. [If such such spiri spiritua tuall scien science ce howev however, er, throw throws s a deep deepen ening ing new new light light of understanding understanding to all standpoints of knowledge knowledge then such spiritual science must be understood out of its own foundations.] We know from the spiritual investigator that spiritual science is not only an aggregate of teachings but also a way to life in the spirit; it is our task to bring our consciousness into harmony with it at a point where we are standing, standing, and by clothing itself in our categories of knowledge, it provides us with the means of doing this also. The theory of knowledge is intended to give us a firm support within ourselves, and to show us the threads that join us to the opinions and considerations of our fellowmen and to life as a whole. In the essay concerning “The Ego and the Nature of Man” it was shown how, above all others, the exponents of a spiritual science have a special need to base their consciousness on epistemological foundations. Now th Now the e att ttem empt pt is to be ma made de on th the e ba basi sis s of th the e ge gene nera rall epistemological principles emerging in this little treatise to present the th e se seve vera rall do doma main ins s of sp spir irit itua uall sc scie ienc nce e in a sy syst stem em of id idea eas s adapted to the normal capacity for knowledge of our time. Now the objection might be made to such an attempt that thereby the vital spirit spiritua ualit lity y of such such scien science ce would would be presse pressed d into into dry categ categori ories es of thought. That objection would be perfectly justified if we desired to employ the concepts of everyday thought. We do not need, however, to lapse into
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the error of a dead abstractionism but will address ourselves to the vital spring of spirituality that exists in every man. To uncover the spring that is choked up today in most men is the object of the essay “The Ego and the Nature of Man”. Therefore the following reflections are to be raised as a structure of brief summaries upon the epistemological foundations there contained. What we expect of a world view is that it should explain the relation of the world to our consciousness. If we want to know what the world is “in itself”, then the question put is also: What is the world for us? If it is possible that the world for us, is as it is in itself, then the th e ce cert rtai aint nty y of th this is ca can n on only ly co come me fr from om ou ours rsel elve ves. s. Th Thus us,, th the e starting point of all striving after knowledge lies in the ego. The ego must discover its reality within itself, and then it may apply that reality as a standard to the non-ego, the world. Thus it is that the ego comes to oppose itself at the outset in all its purity to the non-ego. To this end everything must be eliminated from the ego that that deri derive ves s from from the the nonnon-eg ego o – to begi begin n with with,, all all impr impres essi sion ons, s, perceptions, sensations, and feelings, then from thought everything that recalls the non-ego. What then is left over is pure ego as the sum of pure thou though ghts ts,, that that is to say, say, as the the facu facult lty y for for crea creati ting ng logi logica call and and mathematical forms. If we now now exam examin ine e the nature nature of thos those e forms forms of thoug thought ht (thou (though ghtt of thought), then the ego finds its own essence to be the concept of the concept. This is, as indeed is also thought of thought, a form that has its own essence for content, a content carried by its own form. Therewith we have have found found the stand standard ard for for what what we sough sought, t, name namely ly realit reality. y. In that that process of ego apprehension we see how the ego articulates itself from out of the non-ego, and we can determine three stages in the natural relationship between ego and non-ego: the stage of separation; the stage stage of equi equilib libriu rium m betwe between en the two, where where the the ego ego is only only present insofar as it derives its content from the non-ego; the stage where the ego is only potentially present in the non-ego. Those three stages we may designate as
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spirit, soul, and body of man. The striving after knowledge signifies the effort of the ego to consummate its re-union with the non-ego. The ego seeks to attain to this, firstly, by applying its standard of reality to the non-ego by means of pure thought. That is possible at the point where the ego began to free itself from the non-ego. The expression for that point is sense perception, perception, which we must now regard as a self-direction of the non-ego itself, in that the senses, a part of the non-ego, reflect the outer world similarly, as when the ego emerges pure, through thought directing itself upon itself. Hence, if like meets like – pure perception and pure thought – then knowledge results Now before we pursue pursue the epistem epistemolog ological ical thread further, further, let us now more clearly demarcate the sphere to which the epistemological method just defined is applicable. Everything that is accessible to our senses constitutes the object of this mode of observation. It is the world of corporeality, and in that world man’s body is the foremost object. Man’s body opens access to that world for him, and a simple reflection will show us that it holds within itself everything that that world signifies. We are wont to divide the sense world into realms of nature, and we designate our knowledge thereof as natural science. It is to be carefully noted that natural science is acting quite rightly when it restricts itself to what is accessible to the senses, but it is also clear that the methods of natur natural al scien science ce,, which which have have been been worke worked d out out on the the basis basis of sense sense perception by pure thought, must fail when the two other constituents of man man are are in ques questi tion on – the the soul soul and and the the spir spirit it – for for thes these e with withho hold ld themselves from sense perception. Just as we see that man’s body essentially constitutes the method and matter of natural science’s point of view, so the soul signifies the way and the object of the religious point of view, and it is only spiritual science that has the power to present man’s spirit as the basis.
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Now since it is man’s spirit that t hat immerses itself in the world of body and an d in th the e co cont ntem empl plat atio ion n of na natu ture re,, wh whil ile e th the e so soul ul fo form rms s th the e connecting link between body and spirit, it is intelligible how only spiri sp iritua tuall sc scien ience ce sho should uld hav have e the po power wer to so solve lve th the e rid riddle dles s of existence. On the other hand, we recognize that we best approach spiritual science and its standpoint if, by a rapid survey of the world of sense perception, we can throw light upon the question as to how far the beings of nature speak to our senses, and whether we can, in doing so, detect anything that eludes the senses. We can speedily ascertain that what lies immediately before the senses is nothi nothing ng more more than than a sum sum of senso sensory ry qual qualiti ities es,, and and if we distin distingu guish ish between the realms of nature, this does not come about on the strength of pure perception. Distinctions in sense perceptions Now since, on the one hand, we must apprehend apprehend sense perceptions as a primal expression of the non-ego, on which the ego does not exert the slightest influence, while yet on the other hand we have to apply pure thought to these sense perceptions, we must obtain light as to how man in the the natu natura rall appl applic icat atio ion n of his his facu facult lty y of know knowle ledg dge e make makes s such such distinctions within sense perceptions. Natural science has the greatest successes to record in regard to the socalled mineral world, the world of “the inanimate”. Since we come upon this this mine mineral ral eleme element nt in the case case of all all objec objects ts of sense sense perce percepti ptible ble contemplation, we can readily understand why the world views of natural scientists tend to trace back to this mineral element other phenomena that may occur in the world of sense. We shall have to examine presently in how this is mistaken. Mineral On a careful scrutiny, we call mineral or inanimate whatever remains unchanged before a thinking that firmly confronts the sense perception. We name mineral that part of the sensible world that suffers no change through itself, but only when a stimulus to change that can be shown as wholly perceptible to the senses is given from without. Such a reaction is
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in complete accord with the inherently changeless laws of logic that bring the pure ego to grips with the world of sense. The fact of this agreement must not surprise us, once we have grasped that when pure perception meets pure thought there can be a union between elements wholly of the same kind. Here too, we find the reason why the natural scientist, when contemplating the world, feels the need to trace back the whole world of perception, and even the spiritual world, to mineral relations. The laws of nature are the expression of the said agreement, which laws are apprehe apprehende nded d subjecti subjectively vely in thought thought and formula formulated ted in universa universall language, while they are found again in the world of sense, objectively and actualized in the individual case. As the expression expression for the inherent inherent immuta immutabili bility ty of the mineral mineral world, natural science has the concept of matter, which is defined as the bearer of the sense qualities perceived. The error that lies in looking on matter as something really existing has often been exposed; it is sufficient to point out that sensible qualities must ever again be assigned to matter or to atoms that are thought of as equally real in order to characterize them, so that for this, if for no other reason, they are unfitted to be taken as a real basis underlying sense perceptions. But apart from this, the reality of matter, of the atoms and molecules, even of electrons, has in our latter days melted away, as it were, in the hands of natural science itself. Concept of motion Even when we examine the concept of motion, motion, which finds its application in all departments of modern physics, we do not pass beyond the sphere of sense qualities no matter whether we assume motion as underlying the cosmic ether or the electrons, which though divested precisely of the characteristic characteristic import of “matter”, show in their very capability of motion an element perceptible to the senses. It is precisely the concept of motion that that enab enables les us to see most clearl clearly y that that the the reduct reductio ion n of the the sense sense qualitie qualities s to someth something ing that that is objective objectively ly real and unchan unchanging ging will not work.
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If we take motion, not as a general concept but as a real phenomenon, that is to say, as a motion that really takes place, then we grow clearly aware that we are dealing with sense elements connected with light, and accordingly with the visual sense. A discussion on the nature of space, which perhaps might find a place here, must be left for the followed chapter. We will only remark that it is precisely the most modern of physicists and mathematicians mathematicians who adduce the physiology of the eye in order to explain the origin of the idea of space. Sense of Touch It might be thought that the so-called sense of touch, on the contrary, apprehends the moments of rest from which only a posteriori inference brings us to motion. Now when natural science feels the need to trace back back the the compli complica cated ted phen phenom omen ena a of the the sense sense perce percepti ptibl ble e world world to motio motions, ns, it thereb thereby y ackno acknowle wledg dges es that that perce percepti ption ons s of light light are more more trustworthy than any other sense perceptions. Light That truth indeed, is of quite general application in natural science, whose theories, one would say, are based exclusively on the eye’s perception, that that is, on the percep perceptio tion n of light. light. There There is no objec objectio tion n to refer referrin ring g perceptions of sound to motion inasmuch as the phenomena of sound can be made accessible to the eye. On the other hand, it is a logical impossibility to refer phenomena of light to motions, for in so doing we are by no means leaving the realm of light perception perception to enter a more universal field. Surely, we may not assume as explanatory explanatory the very thing we wish to explain. Just as it is inadmissible inadmissible to trace back thought by means of thought to something else, so we may not validly base light on phenomena of motion. In this connection we come upon that saying of Goethe, so surprising to modern consciousness, “Light is the simplest, undivided and homogeneous essence known to us. It is not a compound.” We can lay it down that knowledge in natural science proceeds on the basis of light perceptions and of pure thought. Thus we must recognize in light perception and in pure thought, two things immediately
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correlated, fully in accordance with our theory of knowledge that led us to conclude that when pure perception and pure thought meet there is a mingling of absolute like elements. Here we find it precisely established that it is one sense perception, that of light, that immediately immediately corresponds to thought. Therewith, however, we have an immediate relation between a sense perceptible thing and a supersensible thing, which can be thus formulated: Pure thought is the supersensible element in light, or, light is the sense perceptible expression of pure thought. It would be interesting to inquire whether we can similarly find for the other other sense sense phenom phenomena ena an immedia immediately tely correspon correspondin ding g superse supersensib nsible le thing thing,, for for to pure pure thou though ghtt they they are only only medi mediate ately ly access accessib ible le by the indirect way of light perceptions. For this, spiritual science will alone be competent, even while here we are still dealing with considerations of natural science. Spiritual science shows us, it is true, that underlying tone, for example, ther there e is stil stilll some someth thin ing g esse essent ntia iall lly y diff differ eren entt from from simp simple le moti motion on phenomena of the air. Thus we see how in all intellectual knowledge based on the senses, there is already a mingling of a sensible and a supersen supersensibl sible e thing, thing, and therewi therewith th a connecti connection on with spiritual spiritual science science becomes apparent to us. If we wish to characterize for ourselves the mineral kingdom within the world of perception, we must seek for an expression for the part of the perceptual world that remains unchanged before pure thought. Since, as we saw, not all designations are admissible for a material content of the minera minerall kingd kingdom om,, let us tentat tentative ively ly say say that that the minera minerall kingd kingdom om is analyzable analyzable for intellectual intellectual consideration into a sum of (physical, chemical, chemical, etc) forces. Here we do not mean by “force” a thing that causes or carries the mineral properties, but those mineral phenomena phenomena themselves, in their sensible and supersensible supersensible connection. connection. Our next question will now be: Can we find yet further forms of force within the perceived world? Plant kingdom / Concept of Development If we now go on to those sense perceptible phenomena that are termed the plant kingdom, the first thing we meet is again the mineral forces, though in a far more complex association. For us, this expresses itself in such a way that a perceptual complex called oxygen, for instance, is the same whether it has been obtained from the mineral kingdom, or from
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artificial or natural processes in the plant world. With such investigations, of course, we only touch the mineral part of the plant, that is, the part that remains unchanged before strict thought. Into the rigid laws of logic we must admit a mobile element in order to touch the essence of the plant. That element finds its expression in the concept of development , of growth, by contrast with the purely logical concept of being of being . How far the concept of development must be set above the forms of logic, which deal only with being, shall be expounded in a later later section section of our epistemo epistemologi logical cal investig investigatio ations ns concerni concerning ng spiritua spirituall science. In this place, it is enough for us to note that by the concept of development we express the fact that in the case of the plant we can see, precisely in respect of mineralogy, that it does not remain unchanged before pure logical thought. We see the plant grow, nourish and propagate itself, that is to say, we notice a change that is not part, as with the mineral, caused from without, but by the plant itself. The external condition condition (sunshine, rain, suitable soil, etc.) merely provide an opportunity enabling the mineral element, which needs external influences, to follow in the plant itself the causes that produce changes. We see that the mineral element in the plant by no means follows its proper laws, but contrast with its ordinary behaviour. That, surely, is seen from the fact that the mineral structure of the plant is at once destroyed by external influences when the counteraction of the plant ceases. We clearly see that we are confronted with a new kind of forces forces that differ differ fundam fundamenta entally lly from the mineral mineral forces. forces. These These forces forces prove themselves to be stronger than the mineral forces and overcome them. In the life forms of plants we see the expression of these forces, which for their own ends convert the mineral forces into a garment in which they veil themselves. In the case of the plant we may speak of a corporeity in which the supersensible plant nature abides. Once again we see the contact with spiritual science, which describes for us a supersensible part of the plant. That part is termed by spiritual science the etheric body [or life body], and since, in spite of everything, mater material ial conce concepti ption ons s ever ever again again so easil easily y attach attach them themse selve lves s to that that expression, it is important for us to be able clearly to visualize the true character of the etheric body of the plant world on the strength of natural scientific considerations.
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Concept of etheric body / Cell If the designation of matter as the bearer of the mineral properties cannot be admitted in the mineral world, that is the case in an even greater measure as regards plant activity. It is true that so long as we persist in applying to the plant kingdom the purely logical forms of thought without the fluid element element of develop developmen ment, t, we cannot cannot get away away from material material conceptions. But out of this schematic treatment of natural philosophy ther there e also also aros arose e the the conc concep eptt of the the cell cell,, as a mate materi rial ally ly obje object ctiv ive e representative of the life processes. Altho Althoug ugh h we can make use of the express expression ion,, cell, cell, we must must deno denote te thereby what is actually given, namely, a force center of a higher order within the mineral world of our perception. We have before us two kinds of forces forces in sensible sensible presenta presentation tion of plants, plants, and correspond correspondingl ingly, y, of animals and men: the mineral and plant forces. If we now observe that these plant forces pervade all organic life and are present wherever we can speak of a cell system, we can designate the etheric body as the sum of those forces that make minerals into cells. In terms of sense perception, the expression of the supersensible etheric body is the plant forms that develop in growth, maintain themselves in nutrition, transmit themselves in propagation. Animal Kingdom / Nerves / Sentient body If we now go on to the animal kingdom, we see the corporeity of the animals again subject to the influence of a new kind of forces that differ essentially from the plant forces. This expresses itself not only in the mineral structure of the animal, but also in its life history. Whereas we see the plant bound to the soil surrounding it, so that its mineral structure is destroyed if the plant is torn out of the soil in which it grows, we see that the animal detaches itself from mother earth, without the mineral structure being destroyed. Thus, these new forces in their turn show themselves stronger than the preceding ones, and they make the mineral formation still far more complicated. They add to the expression of the etheric body, to the relatively simple cellular structure of plants, a system of glands that controls the circulation of the fluids in the organism. This organization no longer remains united to the mother soil as in the case of the plant. These forces incorporate with the whole a new system that is the perceptible
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expression of the new forces. The forces themselves are in their nature inwa inward rd.. They They give give to the the anim animal al the the mobi mobili lity ty that that it need needs s afte afterr its its separation from the mother soil – for example, for nutrition – and they also set up once more a connection between the animal and the outer world. The new system is the nervous system, the perceptible expression of inwardness. The nerves nerves lead lead the external external impressi impression on inwards inwards through through the sense organs, while they lead the internal impulses outwards through the organs of movem movemen ent. t. When When we give give heed heed to the fact that that these these forces forces are present wherever the effects if inwardness manifest themselves, we get the picture of a new force body, in a similar way as previously in the case of the etheric body, and therewith have a definition for the supersensible part of animals and men, which spiritual science describes as the sentient or astral body. The sentient body is the sum of those forces that make the cells into nerves. After we have thus, thoroughly explored the world of corporeity by the aid of an epistemologically defensible natural scientific method, it becomes our obvious task to link man’s body to this chain of thought. We find man’s body to be a mineral structure, shaped by the forces of life, illum illumine ined d with with consci consciou ousne sness ss by the force forces s of subje subjecti ctivit vity. y. We can can distinguish it in respect of physical body, etheric body, sentient or astral body, but these parts are modified by a fourth kind of forces that in continuation of our previous definitions, we can designate as follows. The human brain Man’s body is distinguished from that of the animal by a sum of forces that links the nerve substance together together so as to form the human brain, for surely, there can be no doubt that in the structure and size of the brain we have the corporea corporeall differen difference ce between between man and the highest highest animals, animals, whatever attitude we may otherwise adopt as to the relationship between animals and men. The new form of forces with which we are here concerned, however, must not be regarded by us in the same way as hitherto, for in the structures in quest question ion,, we no longe longerr have have an expre expressi ssion on of corpo corporei reity ty such such that that thought opposes itself to their sensible manifestation. Rather, we have
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here to deal with the sense perceptible expression of thought itself. Nor can can we any any long longer er make make a dist distin inct ctio ion n betw betwee een n ours oursel elve ves s and and the the supersensible in those phenomena, for we ourselves are that sum of forces. We find this sum of force forces s as a being being,, as the ego, from which which the the standard for the whole of natural scientific inquiry is taken. These new forces can alone apprehend themselves as the theory of knowledge. In thinking of thinking, we apprehend the supersensible immediately. In this extension of the natural sciences it is only a spiritual science that can have a place. Thus, the theory of knowledge that was foreshadowed at the beginning leads us, by its application as a natural science, to the very bounds of a science of the spirit or spiritual science. We can now take up the thread of our epistemological considerations that we left drop in the previous essay, “The ego and the Nature of Man”. The ego apprehends apprehends itself in itself as reality. In order to be able to thus to base itself in itself as reality, it had to separate itself from the non-ego. Natur Natural al scien scientif tific ic know knowled ledge ge arises arises throu through gh the ego, ego, with with its most most essential nature, pure thought, reaching out to the non-ego where it finds sense perception, the non-ego’s most essential expression. But yet there is another sphere where the ego is found in an intimate natural union with the non-ego. The expression for this is man’s soul, and we succeeded in deriving deriving the threefol threefold d nature nature of the soul as sentient sentient,, intellec intellectual tual and consciousness soul, from the subtler relations between ego and non-ego. Now that we have explored the realms of the non-ego, we find that we have there to deal deal with three differen differentt kinds kinds of forces forces [minera [mineral/bo l/body, dy, etheric/cell, astral/nerve] with which the fourth form, the ego, now can maintain a connection. In this way, we gain a new understanding of the characteristic differences of the three parts of the soul, for it is seen that the ego is, in natural connection with each of the three realms of force. We can now convince ourselves of this truth and once more achieve a quite particularly intimate contact with spiritual science, if we reflect that it is we ourselves who, in a supersensible manner, are placed within the forces of the realms of nature, so that we are, therefore, immediately experiencing that connection from the side of the ego. The human soul
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The sphere therewith indicated, the human soul, is characterized by the concept of the personal, the unique; it effects the junction between the universality of pure thought and the singularity of sense perceptions. But what is here at issue, is not the thoughts we gain regarding the world of sense, for they belong to natural scientific knowledge, but the manner in which the ego has its being amidst external nature. We know man’s bodily organization, that part of the non-ego that includes the possib possibili ility ty of the ego, as bein being g a mineral structure, structure, formed and maintained by the forces of life, life , unfolded to the outside world by forces of subjectivity . subjectivity . It is an apparatus that possesses the capability of sensation thro throug ugh h the the sens sense e orga organs ns,, and and thro throug ugh h the the orga organs ns of moti motion on the the capability of action. It is to be noted that neither sensation nor action become facts in virtue of that apparatus alone. For this, the fourth kind of force, the ego is needed, which uses or activates the apparatus. Since the possibility of sensation and action originates with the astral body, it is a union of the ego with the forces of the astral body that we experience as sensation or immediate urge. Sentient soul or sensation Insofar as the ego lives by the forces of the astral body, it is sensation or sentient soul. In using that term we are designating by sensation the inward experience that unites itself to an external sense impression. But there belong to the sphere of the sentient soul also those stimuli to action that immediately follow upon the sensations. The next sphere of the unique, the personal, will have to be characterized by the ego’s experiences with the forces of the etheric body. Let us once more consider the sensations; they are the subjective experiences of the sensible sensible qualitie qualities. s. Those Those experie experiences nces are wholly wholly chaotic, chaotic, without without any relations. One experience is worth as much as another, and the important point is that such an experience is completely ended when the sense organ organ in quest question ion turns turns away away,, or the stimu stimulus lus from from outsi outside de cease ceases. s. Nothing is left over if we merely regard the sensation, but other forces are need needed ed if anyth anythin ing g of the sensa sensatio tions ns is to be retain retained ed.. Such Such force forces, s, however, do , namely, the forces of the etheric body, with which the ego is now able to unite. But since the ego is only connected to the outside world through the senses, that is, through the forces of the astral body
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[sentient body and sentient soul], it can only utilize the forces of the etheric body insofar as the material for this is supplied by the astral body. Intellectual soul / etheric / mental images / memory The forces of the etheric body are organizing, formative ones, and if they are united by the ego to the chaotic sensations, experiences will present thems themselv elves es to the the ego ego in which which the sensa sensatio tions ns are cast cast into into forms forms,, retained, co-ordinated and distinguished. The ego by the aid of the etheric body, transforms the sensations into mental images. Mental images are the ego’s experiences of the outside world that remain even when the sensations have ceased. All phenomena of memory are connected with this sphere of inward experience, comprehensively styled the intellectual soul. The intellectual soul is the ego insofar as the latter is united to the forces of the etheric body. To this sphere, there also belong those stimuli to action action that originate originate in the faculty of memory: memory: habits, inclination inclinations, s, passions, etc. At his point we desire to counter the objection that the definitions of sensation, mental image, instinct, habit, etc., apply also to animals and even to plants. For there is a widespread tendency today, when molecular memory, atomic soul, etc., are express expressions ions in current use in studying the being of nature, not in their typical appearances, but in the “transition forms”. The first thing to be said in this connection, is that the aforesaid distinctions between between mineral, plant and animal have reference to the body of those beings. Here, however, we are concerned with the soul – man’s soul, the only one of which by our present means enable us to predicate anything. In a subsequent discussion, when we have laid the necessary foundations, we shall be able to speak also of the psychic-spiritual aspect of the natural kingdoms. It is true that then it will be seen that one is justified in ascribing to the animals after their kind a sentient soul and, to the higher species, even traces of an intellectual soul, but only by setting out from the animal ego, which differs fundamentally from the human. Consciousness soul sou l /physical body / concepts / morality If now the ego further unites itself with the forces of the physical body, then it has taken possess possession ion of its entire entire corporea corporeall organiza organization tion.. We
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therewith enter that sphere of uniqueness where the ego, in virtue of its sensa sensatio tions ns,, ment mental al imag images es and and expe experie rience nces, s, is able able to devel develop op its universality. The mental mental images images become become concepts concepts;; the ego within its mineral body can feel separated from the external world, and we get that contradistinction of ego and non-ego, which formed the starting point of our epistemological considerations. Whereas man’s consciousness, insofar as sentient and intellectual soul are concerned, was dependent upon external stimuli, it now becomes a self-con self-conscio sciousn usness. ess. That That sphere sphere of uniquen uniqueness ess is named named by spiritua spirituall science, consciousness soul. The sphere of action corresponding to the consciousness soul is morality. In the consciousness soul man attains also to moral independence, whereby he lets his own ideals flow forth into the world through his deeds. We see that the natural conjunction between ego and non-ego has two forms of expression, which in consciousness soul lead to independence, to the independence of knowledge and to the independence of action. We can also also classi classify fy actio action n accord according ing to three three poin points ts of view, view, name namely, ly, according to the path it takes with the threefold sphere of uniqueness. It is the ego that that acts, acts, but but only only when when the the ego ego has has appre apprehe hend nded ed itself itself in independence can moral independence be achieved. Therewith, we have established contact with spiritual science also on the side of action. That is, of the utmost importance, for it shows us that entry into the spirituality begins with a deed no less than with an act of knowledge. Deed and knowledge coincide. Insofar as ego the apprehension appears as the culmination of natural science, it is knowledge, and as deed that is wholly enacted in the spiritual sphere, it is the entry into spiritual worlds. By his sensory and psychic life man is dependent upon the forces of natur nature; e; by appre apprehe hens nsion ion of his his ego, ego, he takes takes his his place place amon among g the the creative beings of the world. If we now glance back over the path that the “natural application of our faculty of knowledge”, the application of natural scientific methods, has won for us, we see that we are able to distinguish between the realms of nature because we ourselves, as egos, are in natural union with those “fields of force”. Hence, the distinction between and a doctrine of the natural realms can be built on the reality of the ego.
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Such a classification then contains nothing arbitrary or accidental, accidental, but we find in it at various stages the reality of spiritual life, to which the ego as a self-conscious self-conscious spirit belongs. The concepts we have formed are not dead abstractions or else we should never have established contact with the investigations investigations of spiritual science. We were forced to overcome overcome the dead, mineral-like logic and to let living concepts grow forth from the concept of the concept, the pure ego, which is living, spiritual reality. But we have achieved something more than that. By our circular progress, from the basing of the cogitatory, ego knowledge, by way of its application to the realms of nature and back to the ego, we have forged a ring of confidence in the results of spiritual science. That brings us a step further, for we are now in a position to understand also the other side of cognition, the spiritual scientific one, not only as to theory, but also as to method. When the ego as consciousness soul becomes conscious of its creative force, then it will also be ready to advance to spiritual doing; man will thus dete determ rmin ine e to ente enterr the the path path show shown n to him him by spir spirit itua uall scie scienc nce. e. In knowledge as theory it appears as the path of self-denial, of sacrifice, with a goal scarcely discerned; in knowledge as deed we can now, with a clear purpose, take the first step toward which the spiritual teacher points. We may attain to the recognition that a higher knowledge is possible from the formu formula latio tion n of the theory theory of our our intell intellec ectua tuall knowle knowledg dge e (see (see the preceding essay). If the ego in intellectual knowledge applies its standard of reality to the non-ego, it is only one of three possibilities. We must admit a further stage of knowledge as possible if we envisage the fact that now the ego no longer preponderates in the relations between the two factors, ego and non-ego, but that both are in equilibrium (imaginative knowledge). A possibility of a third stage is furnished by the conception that now the non-ego preponderates preponderates and supplies supplies the standard for a new reality, the ego, the higher self (inspired knowledge). Now, Now, if the essence essence of know knowled ledge ge consis consists ts in the the ego ego achie achievin ving g its reunion with the non-ego from which it has detached itself, we find that the difference between the intellectual and the other stages of knowledge consis consists ts in the intel intellec lectua tual’s l’s accom accompl plish ishin ing g that that reuni reunion on in a more more theoretical manner by the ego giving back pure thought to the non-ego, as it were, but in order to reach the higher knowledge, the ego, in its
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spirituality, must approach the non-ego by practical ways. The spiritual investigator’s testimony leads us from the recognition of the possibility of higher knowledge to a recognition of its reality, and the confidence in the spirit spiritua uall inves investig tigato ator’s r’s testim testimon ony, y, which which was won won in the the proces process s of intellectual knowledge, now leads us further to an understanding of the path to spiritual investigation, and finally on to that path itself. The sphere of action for intellectual knowledge is the experience of the senses, of the impression that the ego r eceives from the non-ego when it remains placed in opposition to it. Now, where do we find the sphere of action for the path to higher knowledge? Clearly, in the interactions between ego and non-ego, where both are inwardly united. We see clearly that the sphere of action for the ego on the path to higher knowledge is man’s soul. The soul in its triple structure, is, as we saw, saw, that that sphere sphere of huma human n natur nature e where where the ego ego direc directly tly participates in the life of the non-ego. But whereas the soul, in natural life, transmits the message sent out by the non-ego as a corporeal sense impression, impression, that process must now suffer a reversal, for whereas the ego is a receiver in intellectual knowledge, it must be a giver on the path to higher knowledge. It must pout its purest essence into the non-ego, that is, primarily into that sphere of the non-ego on which the ego already participates, the soul. If, from that point of view, we consider the directions given by the spiritual teacher, we find how the reversal takes place; we find in that reversal the means to the ego’s action upon the soul, and there is no recess of the soul that is not affected by that work. When it is shown how the ego must make itself entirely insensitive to the impression of the senses, how consciousness must empty itself of every sensory remnant in order thereupon to fill itself with a content deriving from the spirit, then we see how a reversal in the relations between ego and non-ego is affected. Meditation is the name given to that state, and the ego must be the strong-willed executant of that work. As the effect of this work we are given a description of how the ego gradually advances to the spiritual springs from which it has flowed. Any enlargement upon the details is, of course, outside the scope of a treatise, like the present one. No ego can enter the path by proxy, but there is one effect that such consider consideratio ations ns ought ought to have. have. The path to higher knowledge knowledge shall shall be made intelligible and its significance made familiar to us.
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We thus reach a standpoint in regard to life that is characterized by the work upon the soul that is intended to lead to the reunion of the ego with its prime sources, with what we call the Divine. That standpoint toward life may, if we take the word in its proper sense, be designated as religion. We laid it down at the beginning that the soul signifies the way and the object of the religious mode of contemplation. Now, having ourselves arrived at a truly religious standpoint standpoint in regard to life, we can also learn to understand the nature of a standpoint that, though in itself unconscious, is yet religious, and to understand also the significance of the historical “religions”. We find it confirmed that by discovering an epistemological basis for the teachings of spiritual science, we can also discover the basis for the other other wor world ld vi view ews. s. We ca can n sh show ow no gre greate aterr res respe pect ct for natural science than by using its method. That will bring us into harmo ha rmony ny wi with th our fel fello lowme wmen n who whose se de desir sire e for tru truth th ex exclu clusiv sively ely elects the field of natural science, whose spiritual being does not win through to a confidence in its own spiritual reality, and therewith to a confidence in the reality of investigations in spiritual science. Looking back from our religious standpoint, we shall also feel united with those among our fellowmen whose desire for life in the spirit does not bare to look its own spirit in the face; who, so as not to lose that union with the divine that lies in religious r eligious surrender surrender cannot make up their minds to seek, through spiritual science in self-consciousness their reunion with the Divine. If we thus learn to appreciate the value of other world views, we owe it to spiritual science, whose doctrines lie before us, summoning us rightly to use those forces of knowledge that we already possess, giving us courage to base ourselves on our own spiritual nature, and thereby releasing our forces for life in the spirit for knowledge as deed. END: DEATH OF NATURAL SCIENCE / BIRTH OF SPIRITUAL SCIENCE BEGIN: THOUGHTS CONCERNING THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONTRADICTION Not yet finished. If you would like to receive it, let me know. Christopher Bodame Published title, “Principles of Spiritual Science” by Carl Unger 1878 - 1929, The Anthroposophic Press, N.Y., USA 1976
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