Was ist Selbstbewusstsein? Gefühl und Wille als Rätsel des Menschen

Abstract:

The threefold nature of the human being and the universe is by far the most fruitful idea of anthroposophy because it opens the possibility of grasping the soul being of the human being in its dependence on both the physical and the spiritual world. But deploying this idea fruitfully presents at the same time greater difficulties than do most of the ideas of the twentieth century because one side of this dependence requires knowledge of subconscious regions of the human being. So we have to learn first of all not to make this fact into an obstacle of a comprehensive understanding of the world and the human being by believing that distinguishing the three members of the human being and world requires their separation. Indeed, the opposite is the case: only exceptionally do the three members of the human soul being appear separated, but they mostly act together, albeit at times in very different proportions. Using the example of self-consciousness, which Rudolf Steiner succinctly described as a will process, it is possible to show in detail how in very different proportions this will process works each time in a person's thinking and feeling. This will also make clear that the discussion as to whether the human will is 'free' is far from finished, so we must learn to confront this question with a comprehensive understanding of the world and the human being.