Nature and Our Ideals
GA 30
Nature and our Ideals
[ 1 ] In your philosophical poem “Nature”—so rich in thoughts—you have given expression to the basic mood asserting itself in modern man. This mood arises when he permits himself to be influenced by certain ideas about nature and spirit extant in our time and if he has a depth of feeling sufficient to make him recognize the discord between those ideas and the ideals of his heart and mind. Indeed those times are gone when a thoughtless, shallow optimism, relying on the belief that we are children of god, distracted man from perceiving the discord of nature and spirit. Those times are gone when it was possible to be so superficial as to lightheartedly look away from the thousands of wounds from which the world is bleeding. Our ideals are no longer superficial enough to be satisfied by a reality so often shallow and empty.
Yet, I cannot believe that it is impossible to find a means of elevating oneself above the deep pessimism that stems from such a recognition. Such an elevation becomes possible when I look into the world of our inner being, when I approach the essence of our world of ideals: a world complete and perfect in itself, which cannot gain, cannot lose anything through the ephemeral nature of outer things. Are not our ideals,—if they are truly living entities (individualities)—beings existing in themselves, independent of the favors and disfavors of nature? May the lovely rose be defoliated by the merciless thrusts of the wind,—it has fulfilled its mission, for it has brought joy to a hundred human eyes. May it please murderous nature tomorrow to destroy the entire starry heavens: through millennia men have looked up to it with reverence, and this suffices! No! Not the transient existence, but the inner essence makes them perfect. The ideals of our spirit comprise a self-sufficient world that must live out its own life and cannot gain anything through the cooperation of a beneficent nature.
[ 2 ] What a pitiful creature man would be if he were not able to gain satisfaction within his own world of ideals, but instead, would first need the cooperation of nature? What would become of divine freedom if nature, keeping us in a harness, guiding us, were to tend us and care for us like little children? No! She must deny everything, so that if good fortune comes to us it would be the product of our own free self. May nature destroy every day what we are building, so that every day we may look forward joyfully to creating anew—we don't want to owe anything to nature, but everything to ourselves.
[ 3 ] This freedom—one might say—is but a mere dream! While we deem ourselves free, we are heeding the iron necessity of nature. The most exalted thoughts are nothing other than the result of nature acting blindly within us.
[ 4 ] Oh, we should finally admit, that a being that knows itself (or: knowing itself) cannot be unfree. By investigating the eternal laws of nature we are separating out of it the substance which lies at the foundation of its manifestations. We see the fabric of laws ruling over the objects of nature, and that brings about necessity. In our cognition we possess the power to detach the lawfulness out of the objects of nature. Should we be will-less slaves of these laws nevertheless? The objects of nature are unfree because they cannot recognize these laws; they are governed by them without knowing of them. Who should force them on us, since we penetrate them with our reasoning? A being that knows cannot be unfree. Such a being first transforms what is law into ideals, and then accepts them as self-given laws.
We should finally admit that the god—imagined by effete humanity to dwell in the clouds—lives in our hearts, in our spirit. He fully divested himself of his being and poured it out completely over mankind. He did not want to retain anything of his own will because he wanted mankind to be a race that rules itself in full freedom. He emanated into the world. Man's will is his will, man's goals, his goals. By implanting into mankind an (entire being-ness) he gave up an existence of his own. A “god in history” does not exist. He ceased to be for the sake of the freedom of mankind, for the divine-ness of the world. We have taken into ourselves the highest potency of existence, therefore no external power, only our own creations can give us satisfactions. All lamenting about an existence that does not satisfy us, about this hard world, must vanish in the presence of the thought, that no power in the world could satisfy us if we ourselves did not bestow upon it the magic power through which it can gladden and elevate us. If a god from outside our world were to bring us the joys of heaven and we had to take them as he prepared them, without our participation, we would have to refuse, because they would be the joys devoid of freedom.
[ 5 ] We have no right to expect satisfaction from powers outside of us. Faith promised us reconciliation with the evils of this world, brought about by a god from outside this world. Such faith is in the process of fading away, a time will come when it will not exist anymore. But that time will come when mankind will not have to hope anymore for a redemption from outside, because mankind will recognize that it must bring about its own bliss, just as it afflicted deep wounds upon itself.
Mankind is the guide of its own destiny. Even the achievements of modern natural science cannot convince us otherwise. These achievements were acquired through conceptions of the outer side of things, while cognizance of our own world of ideals is attained through penetration of the inner depth of the matter.
[ 6 ] Since you, admired poetess, have been applying such vigorous pressure to the sphere of philosophy you might not be disinclined to hear what it has to say in response; and with this
[ 1 ] I am very respectfully yours,
Rudolf Steiner
Die Natur Und Unsere Ideale
Sendschreiben an die Dichterin des «Hermann»: M.E. delle Grazie
Hochverehrte Dichterin!
[ 1 ] Sie haben in Ihrem so gedankenreichen philosophischen Gedichte «Die Natur» der Grundstimmung Ausdruck gegeben, die sich in dem modernen Menschen geltend macht, wenn er die dermalige Natur- und Geistesauffassung auf sich wirken läßt und dabei jene Tiefe des Empfindens besitzt, die ihn die Disharmonie erkennen läßt, die zwischen jener Auffassung und den Idealen unseres Geistes und Herzens besteht. Jawohl, sie sind vorüber, jene Zeiten, da der leichtfertige, flache Optimismus, der in dem Glauben an unsere Gotteskindschaft besteht, den Menschen über jenen Zwiespalt der Natur und des Geistes hinwegführte. Sie sind vorüber, die Zeiten, in denen man oberflächlich genug war, leichten Herzens hinwegzusehen über die tausend Wunden, aus denen die Welt allerorten blutet. Unsere Ideale sind nicht mehr flach genug, um von dieser oft so schalen, so leeren Wirklichkeit befriedigt zu werden. Dennoch kann ich nicht glauben, daß es keine Erhebung aus dem tiefen Pessimismus gibt, der aus dieser Erkenntnis hervorgeht. Diese Erhebung wird mir, wenn ich auf die Welt unseres Innern schaue, wenn ich an die Wesenheit unserer idealen Welt näher herantrete. Sie ist eine in sich abgeschlossene, in sich vollkommene Welt, die nichts gewinnen, nichts verlieren kann durch die Vergänglichkeit der Außendinge. Sind unsere Ideale, wenn sie wirklich lebendige Individualitäten sind, nicht Wesenheiten für sich, unabhängig von der Gunst oder Ungunst der Natur? Mag immerhin die liebliche Rose vom unbarmherzigen Windstoße zerblättert werden, sie hat ihre Sendung erfüllt, denn sie hat hundert menschliche Augen erfreut; mag es der mörderischen Natur morgen gefallen, den ganzen Sternenhimmel zu vernichten: durch Jahrtausende haben Menschen verehrungsvoll zu ihm emporgeschaut, und damit ist es genug. Nicht das Zeitensein, nein das innere Wesen der Dinge macht sie vollkommen. Die Ideale unseres Geistes sind eine Welt für sich, die sich auch für sich ausleben muß und die nichts gewinnen kann durch die Mitwirkung einer gütigen Natur.
[ 2 ] Welch erbarmungswürdiges Geschöpf wäre der Mensch, wenn er nicht innerhalb seiner eigenen Idealwelt Befriedigung gewinnen könnte, sondern dazu erst der Mitwirkung der Natur bedürfte? Wo bliebe die göttliche Freiheit, wenn die Natur uns, gleich unmündigen Kindern, am Gängelbande führend, hegte und pflegte? Nein, sie muß uns alles versagen, damit, wenn uns Glück wird, dieses ganz das Erzeugnis unseres freien Selbstes ist! Zerstöre die Natur täglich, was wir bilden, auf daß wir uns täglich aufs neue des Schaffens freuen können! Wir wollen nichts der Natur, uns selbst alles verdanken!
[ 3 ] Diese Freiheit, könnte man sagen, ist doch nur ein Traum. Indem wir uns frei dünken, gehorchen wir der ehernen Notwendigkeit der Natur. Die erhabensten Gedanken, die wir fassen, sind ja nur das Ergebnis der in uns blind waltenden Natur.
[ 4 ] Oh, wir sollten doch endlich zugeben, daß ein Wesen, das sich selbst erkennt, nicht unfrei sein kann! Indem wir die ewige Gesetzlichkeit der Natur erforschen, lösen wir jene Substanz aus ihr los, die ihren Äußerungen zugrunde liegt. Wir sehen das Gewebe der Gesetze über den Dingen walten, und das bewirkt die Notwendigkeit. Wir besitzen in unserem Erkennen die Macht, die Gesetzlichkeit der Naturdinge aus ihnen loszulösen und sollten dennoch die willenlosen Sklaven dieser Gesetze sein? Die Naturdinge sind unfrei, weil sie die Gesetze nicht erkennen, weil sie, ohne von ihnen zu wissen, durch sie beherrscht werden. Wer sollte sie uns aufdrängen, da wir sie geistig durchdringen? Ein erkennendes Wesen kann nicht unfrei sein. Es bildet die Gesetzlichkeit zuerst in Ideale um und gibt sich diese selbst zum Gesetze. Wir sollten endlich zugeben, daß der Gott, den eine abgelebte Menschheit in den Wolken wähnte, in unserem Herzen, in unserem Geiste wohnt. Er hat sich in voller Selbstentäußerung ganz in die Menschheit ausgegossen. Er hat für sich nichts zu wollen übrig behalten, denn er wollte ein Geschlecht, das frei über sich selbst waltet. Er ist in der Welt aufgegangen. Der Menschen Wille ist sein Wille, der Menschen Ziele seine Ziele. Indem er den Menschen seine ganze Wesenheit eingepflanzt hat, hat er seine eigene Existenz aufgegeben. Es gibt einen «Gott in der Geschichte» nicht; er hat aufgehört zu sein um der Freiheit der Menschen willen, um der Göttlichkeit der Welt willen. Wir haben die höchste Potenz des Daseins in uns aufgenommen. Deswegen kann uns keine äußere Macht, können uns nur unsere eigenen Schöpfungen Befriedigung geben. Alles Wehklagen über ein Dasein, das uns nicht befriedigt, über diese harte Welt, muß schwinden gegenüber dem Gedanken, daß uns keine Macht der Welt befriedigen könnte, wenn wir ihr nicht zuerst selbst jene Zauberkraft verleihen, durch die sie uns erhebt und erfreut. Brächte ein außerweltlicher Gott uns alle Himmelsfreuden, und wir sollten sie so hinnehmen, wie er sie ohne unser Zutun bereitete, wir müßten sie zurückweisen, denn sie wären die Freuden der Unfreiheit.
[ 5 ] Wir haben keinen Anspruch darauf, daß. uns von Mächten Befriedigung werde, die außer uns sind. Der Glaube versprach uns eine Aussöhnung mit den Übeln dieser Welt, wie eine solche ein außerweltlicher Gott herbeiführen sollte. Dieser Glaube ist im Verschwinden begriffen, er wird einst gar nicht mehr sein. Es wird aber die Zeit kommen, wo die Menschheit nicht mehr auf Erlösung von außen hoffen wird, weil sie erkennen wird, daß sie sich selbst ihre Seligkeit bereiten muß, wie sie sich selbst so tiefe Wunden geschlagen hat. Die Menschheit ist die Lenkerin ihres eigenen Geschickes. Von dieser Erkenntnis können uns selbst die Errungenschaften der modernen Naturwissenschaft nicht abbringen, denn sie sind die Erkenntnisse, die wir durch Auffassung der Außenseite der Dinge erlangen, während die Erkenntnis unserer Idealwelt auf dem Eindringen in die innere Tiefe der Sache beruht.
[ 6 ] Da Sie, verehrte Dichterin, mit Ihrem Gedichte die Kreise der Philosophie so hart bedrängt haben, werden Sie wohl nicht abgeneigt sein, die Antwort dieser letzten zu hören; und damit bin ich in vorzüglicher Hochachtung ergebenst.
Rudolf Steiner
Nature and our ideals
Letter to the poetess of "Hermann": M.E. delle Grazie
Highly esteemed poetess!
[ 1 ] In your philosophical poem "Nature", so rich in thought, you have expressed the basic mood that asserts itself in modern man when he allows the current conception of nature and the spirit to take effect on him and at the same time has that depth of feeling that allows him to recognize the disharmony that exists between that conception and the ideals of our mind and heart. Yes, they are over, those times when the frivolous, shallow optimism which consists in the belief that we are children of God led man beyond that dichotomy of nature and spirit. They are over, the times when we were superficial enough to overlook the thousand wounds from which the world is bleeding everywhere. Our ideals are no longer shallow enough to be satisfied by this often so stale, so empty reality. Yet I cannot believe that there is no upliftment from the deep pessimism that comes from this realization. This elevation comes to me when I look at the world of our inner being, when I approach the essence of our ideal world more closely. It is a self-contained world, perfect in itself, which can gain nothing and lose nothing through the transience of external things. Are our ideals, if they are truly living individualities, not entities in themselves, independent of the favor or disfavor of nature? May the lovely rose be crushed by the merciless gust of wind, it has fulfilled its mission, for it has delighted a hundred human eyes; may it please murderous nature tomorrow to destroy the whole starry sky: for thousands of years men have looked up to it with veneration, and that is enough. It is not the being of time, no, it is the inner being of things that makes them perfect. The ideals of our spirit are a world unto themselves, which must also live out for themselves and which can gain nothing through the cooperation of a benevolent nature.
[ 2 ] What a pitiful creature would man be if he could not gain satisfaction within his own ideal world, but first needed the cooperation of nature? Where would divine freedom be if nature nurtured and cared for us, like underage children, leading us by the reins? No, it must deny us everything, so that when happiness comes to us, it is entirely the product of our free self! Destroy nature daily what we create, so that we can rejoice in creating anew every day! We want to owe nothing to nature, everything to ourselves!
[ 3 ] This freedom, you could say, is just a dream. In thinking ourselves free, we obey the iron necessity of nature. The loftiest thoughts that we conceive are only the result of the blind nature that rules within us.
[ 4 ] Oh, we should finally admit that a being that recognizes itself cannot be unfree! By investigating the eternal lawfulness of nature, we detach from it that substance which underlies its manifestations. We see the fabric of laws ruling over things, and this brings about necessity. In our cognition we possess the power to detach the lawfulness of natural things from them and yet should we be the will-less slaves of these laws? The things of nature are unfree because they do not recognize the laws, because they are ruled by them without knowing about them. Who should impose them on us, since we penetrate them spiritually? A cognizing being cannot be unfree. It first transforms legality into ideals and makes them its own law. We should finally admit that the God whom a departed humanity thought was in the clouds dwells in our heart, in our spirit. He has poured himself completely into humanity in full self-emptying. He left nothing for himself to want, for he wanted a generation that would rule freely over itself. He was absorbed into the world. Man's will is his will, man's aims his aims. By implanting his entire being into human beings, he has given up his own existence. There is no "God in history"; he has ceased to exist for the sake of human freedom, for the sake of the divinity of the world. We have absorbed the highest potency of existence within ourselves. That is why no external power, only our own creations can give us satisfaction. All lamentation over an existence that does not satisfy us, over this hard world, must vanish in the face of the thought that no power in the world could satisfy us unless we ourselves first give it that magic power by which it elevates and delights us. If an otherworldly God were to give us all the joys of heaven, and we were to accept them as he prepared them without our intervention, we would have to reject them, for they would be the joys of bondage.
[ 5 ] We have no claim to be satisfied by powers that are beyond us. Faith promised us a reconciliation with the evils of this world, such as an otherworldly God should bring about. This faith is disappearing; one day it will be no more. But the time will come when mankind will no longer hope for redemption from outside, because it will realize that it must prepare its own salvation, just as it has inflicted such deep wounds on itself. Humanity is the master of its own destiny. Not even the achievements of modern natural science can dissuade us from this realization, for they are the insights we gain by understanding the outside of things, while the knowledge of our ideal world is based on penetrating the inner depths of the matter.
[ 6 ] Since you, honored poet, have pressed the circles of philosophy so hard with your poem, you will probably not be averse to hearing the answer of the latter; and with this I am most respectfully submitted.
Rudolf Steiner