GA 20

The Riddle of Man

Vom Menschenrätsel

From the Thinking, Observations, and Contemplations of a Series of German and Austrian Personalities: What They Have Said and Left Unsaid.

„If, as an observer, one is confronted with the "thinking, looking and sensing" of a personality, one can have the sensation that one is observing effective forces in the soul of such a personality which give the direction and the special character to its way of imagining, but which it itself does not make the content of its thinking. Such a feeling need not be connected with the vain opinion that as an observer one can place oneself above the observed personality. The fact that the observer has a different point of view from that of the observer makes it possible to say things that the observer has not said. What he has not said, indeed what he has not brought before his own mind, but has left in the unconscious life of the soul, because through this not saying it, what he has said has acquired its full significance. The more important what a man has to say, the more extensive is that which unconsciously rules in the depths of his soul. But in the souls of those who immerse themselves in the thinking, the sensing of such a personality, this unconscious resonates. And they may also bring it up into consciousness, because it can no longer become an obstacle to what is to be expressed.“ (Lit.:GA 20, p. 20f)

Contents

Thought World, Personality, Popularity / The World View of German Idealism / Idealism as Soul Awakening: J. G. Fichte / Idealism as a view of nature and spirit: F. W. J. Schelling / German idealism as a view of thought: G.W.F. Hegel / A forgotten current in German intellectual life / Images from the thought life of Austria / Outlooks

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: The Riddle of Man. CW 20. Translated by William Lindeman. Mercury Press 1990, ISBN 0-929979-13-3 rsarchive.org

German

• Rudolf Steiner: Vom Menschenrätsel, GA 20 (1984), ISBN 3-7274-0200-8 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.