The Renewal of the Social Organism
GA 24
18. Real Enlightenment as the Basis of Social Thought
[ 1 ] An ever-increasing number of people are beginning to declare that no way out of the social chaos of our time will be found unless our minds and hearts take a new turn toward the spirit. It is a confession to which many are led by disappointment with the results of a political economy that tried to base its ideas merely on the production and distribution of material wealth.
[ 2 ] It is also quite clear how few are the fruits of this profession of the spirit in our times. If expected to produce ideas for political economy, this profession is a failure; more is wanted than mere reference to the spirit. This does no more than give expression to a need; when it comes to the satisfaction of the need, it is helpless. One should recognize in this fact one of the problems of the present day and ask oneself, “How is it that even those who today regard this turning toward the spirit as necessary for social life do not get beyond talking about the necessity of it? Why do they never quite manage actually to suffuse our political-economic thought with spirituality?”
[ 3 ] The answer to this question will be found by observing the form the evolution of thought has taken in modern times among the civilized portion of humanity. Those representatives of modern civilization who have found their way to a world-conception, consider it a mark of their superior “cultivation” to speak of “the unknowable” behind all things. It has gradually become a widespread belief that only a very unenlightened person still talks about the inherent “essence of things” or “the invisible causes of the visible.” Now this thinking can be maintained for a time regarding the study of nature. The phenomena of nature lie before our eyes, and even those who will not hear of inquiring into their causes can describe them, and so arrive at a certain substantiality of thought.
[ 4 ] In matters of political economy, however, such a mode of thinking is bound to break down. For here the phenomena proceed ultimately from human beings; demands arise from human wants and preferences. Within us there lives as substance that to which people shut their eyes when they accustom themselves to talk about “the unknowable” (as do many disciples of the newer schools of thought). So it has come about that the age just passed has continued to evolve its habits of thought into the present—habits of thought which break down completely in matters of political economy. One can observe the freezing of water or the development of the embryo, and talk in a very “distinguished” manner of “the unknowable” in the world, cautioning one's contemporaries not to be led into fantastic speculations about this unknowable realm. But one cannot master economic matters with a way of thinking based on such a disposition, for economic affairs require that one should enter into the fullness of human life. Here one finds spirit and soul at work, even though they are revealed only in the demand for the satisfaction of material needs.
[ 5 ] We shall not develop the science of political economy that modern times require until people cease to be content with merely “referring” to the spirit and the soul, and cease to stigmatize all endeavors to arrive at an actual knowledge of the spirit as “unscientific” and unworthy of any enlightened person. The human soul will remain beyond their understanding until they recognize its connection with what they desire to avoid in their study of nature.
[ 6 ] If one speaks today from one's own perception of the supersensible, and argues that the only way to overcome the prevailing materialism is through research into the supersensible, one is met with the reply that materialism has been overcome “scientifically.” There have, it is claimed, been ample discussions on the subject which prove, on “genuinely” scientific grounds, that materialism is insufficient to explain the processes of nature. To this assertion it must be replied that such discussions may be very interesting theoretically, but they cannot overcome materialism. Materialism will be overcome only when it is not merely proven theoretically that there are more facts in the world than are perceived by our senses, but when living spirit inspires our study of the world and its processes. Only this spirit, directing human vision, can survey the many mingling currents at work in the material life of human communities. One can go on forever proving that “life” is not merely a chemical process; materialism will in no way suffer. One will combat materialism effectively only when one has the courage not only to say, “Our views of the world must be suffused with spirit,” but really to make this spirit the focus of their consciousness.
[ 7 ] The idea of the threefold social order addresses itself to people who have this courage. Courage of this kind does not stop short at the externalities of life, but seeks to penetrate its inner being. It grasps the necessity of the cultivation of a free, independent spiritual-cultural life because it perceives that a spiritual-cultural life in bondage can, at most, “refer” to the spirit, but it cannot live in the spirit. It also grasps the necessity of a self-subsistent legal life, because it has learned that our sense of right and justice has its roots in regions of the human soul that must remain independent of both the spiritual-cultural and the economic spheres. One perceives this only by recognizing the human soul. World-views inculcated by the theory of the unknowable (this is the line of much modern thought) will always tend to the fallacy that one can devise a social framework determined solely by the material facts of economic life.
[ 8 ] This courage will not be daunted by the theory that men are not mature enough for such a radical change of thought and feeling. Their “immaturity” will last only as long as science expounds to them that recognition of the spirit is an unwarranted assumption. Immaturity is not causing the present chaos; the chaos is caused by the belief that recognition of the spirit is a mark of unenlightenment. All attempts at shaping social life that proceed from this spiritless enlightenment are doomed to failure because they exclude the spirit. The moment one banishes the spirit from one's conscious mind, it asserts its claims in the unconscious regions. The spiritual forces can further human aims only when we do not work against the spirit. Only those who take the spirit into their conscious mind work with the spirit. There must he an overcoming of the false enlightenment that has arisen from a mistaken view of nature, and has become a sort of lay-gospel among widespread masses of people. Only then will the ground be prepared for a genuine social science that can have a fruitful influence upon real life.
Wahre Aufklärung als Grundlage sozialen Denkens
[ 1 ] Die Zahl derjenigen Menschen nimmt stetig zu, die betonen, daß aus der sozialen Wirrnis unserer Zeit nur herauszukommen sei, wenn in das Denken und Empfinden ein Zug nach dem Geistigen komme. Die Enttäuschungen, welche «volkswirtschaftliche» Ideen gebracht haben, die ihre Grundlagen nur in der Erzeugung von materiellen Gütern und deren Verteilung suchten, führen bei vielen zu einem solchen Bekenntnis.
[ 2 ] Man kann aber auch deutlich sehen, wie wenig fruchtbar in unserer Zeit ein solches Bekenntnis zum Geiste wirkt. Soll es volkswirtschaftliche Anschauungen hervorbringen, so versagt es. Denn mit dem bloßen Hinweis auf den Geist ist es nicht getan. Er drückt zunächst bloß ein Bedürfnis aus. Er ist ratlos, wenn er über die Befriedigung dieses Bedürfnisses sprechen soll. In dieser Tatsache sollte man eine Aufgabe für die Gegenwart erkennen. Man sollte sich fragen: Warum kommen selbst diejenigen, die heute eine Hinwendung zum Geiste für das soziale Leben notwendig halten, nicht darüber hinaus, diese Notwendigkeit zu besprechen? Warum kommen sie nicht dazu, das volkswirtschaftliche Denken wirklich zu durchgeistigen?
[ 3 ] Man wird dieser Frage die Antwort finden, wenn man die Entwickelung des Denkens innerhalb der zivilisierten Menschheit in der neueren Zeit betrachtet. Diejenigen Persönlichkeiten, die sich aus der Zeitbildung heraus zu einer Weltanschauung durchgerungen haben, betrachten es als ein Zeichen ihrer höheren « Geisteskultur », von dem « Unerkennbaren » hinter den Dingen zu reden. Es ist allmählich ein weitverbreiteter Glaube geworden, daß nur ein Befangener noch über das «Wesen der Dinge», über «die unsichtbaren Gründe der sichtbaren Dinge» sprechen könne. Nun läßt sich eine solche Denkergesinnung für eine Weile gegenüber dem Naturerkennen aufrecht erhalten. Die Naturerscheinungen bieten sich dar; und auch der, welcher von einem Nachforschen über ihre Gründe nichts wissen will, kann sie beschreiben und dadurch zu einem gewissen Inhalte seines Denkens kommen.
[ 4 ] In volkswirtschaftlichen Dingen muß aber eine solche Denkergesinnung versagen. Denn da werden die Erscheinungen zuletzt von Menschen hervorgebracht; es gehen die Forderungen von den Menschengemütern aus. In den Menschen aber lebt gerade dasjenige als Wesenheit, wofür man sich die Einsicht vermauert, wenn man sich gewöhnt, der Natur gegenüber von einem solchen «Unerkennbaren» zu sprechen, wie es bei vielen Bekennern neuerer Lebensanschauungen zu finden ist. So ist es gekommen, daß die jüngste Vergangenheit Denkgewohnheiten in die Gegenwart herein entwickelt hat, die in volkswirtschaftlichen Dingen völlig versagen. Man kann das Gefrieren des Wassers, die Entwickelung des Embryos betrachten und dabei von dem «Unerkennbaren» in der Welt «vornehm» sprechen und die Zeitgenossen ermahnen, sich nicht in Phantasien über dieses «Unerkennbare» zu verlieren. Aber man kann nicht mit einem Denken, das an solcher Seelenverfassung sich schult, volkswirtschaftliche Aufgaben bewältigen. Diese erfordern ein Eingehen auf das volleMenschenleben. Und in diesem waltet das Geistig-Seelische, auch wenn es nur in der Forderung nach der Befriedigung materieller Bedürfnisse sich offenbart.
[ 5 ] Man wird erst eine Volkswirtschaftswissenschaft haben, wie die Gegenwart sie braucht, wenn man auf den Geist und die Seele nicht bloß «hinweisen» wird, sondern wenn man die Bestrebungen, zu einer wirklichen Geist-Erkenntnis zu kommen, nicht mehr als «unwissenschaftlich» und eines aufgeklärten Menschen unwürdig brandmarken wird. Denn über die Seele des Menschen wird man nur urteilen können, wenn man ihren Zusammenhang mit dem durchschaut, was man in der Naturerkenntnis meiden möchte.
[ 6 ] Menschen, die heute aus ihren Anschauungen heraus von übersinnlichen Dingen sprechen und die den Glauben äußern, daß nur durch solche dem Übersinnlichen Zugewandte Erkenntnis der herrschende Materialismus überwunden werden könne, wird erwidert: der Materialismus sei «wissenschaftlich» überwunden. Es gäbe genügend Auseinandersetzungen, die, auf dem Boden « echter » Wissenschaft erwachsen, beweisen, daß der Materialismus zur Erklärung des natürlichen Geschehens nicht ausreicht. Demgegenüber muß gesagt werden: Solche Auseinandersetzungen mögen theoretisch interessant sein; den Materialismus können sie aber nicht überwinden. Der wird nur überwunden, wenn man nicht bloß theoretisch beweist, daß es in den Tatsachen der Welt mehr gibt, als was die Sinne sehen; der wird nur überwunden, wenn in die Betrachtung des Weltgeschehens lebendiger Geist einzieht. Nur dieser in der menschlichen Anschauung waltende Geist kann die Zusammenhänge auch überschauen, die im materiellen Leben der menschlichen Gemeinschaften wirksam sind. Man kann lange beweisen, daß das «Leben» nicht ein bloßer chemischerVorgang sei; man wird damit dem Materialismus nicht wehe tun. Man wird ihn erst dann wirksam bekämpfen, wenn man auch den Mut hat, nicht nur zu sagen, es müsse Geist in den Weltanschauungen wirken, sondern diesen Geist wirklich zum Inhalte seines Bewußtseins macht.
[ 7 ] Die Idee von der Dreigliederung des sozialen Organismus wendet sich an Menschen, die diesen Mut haben. Dieser Mut sucht vorzudringen von den Äußerlichkeiten des Lebens zu dessen innerer Wesenheit. Er erfaßt die Notwendigkeit der Pflege des freien, unabhängigen Geisteslebens, weil er einsieht, daß ein gefesseltes Geistesleben es höchstens bis zum «Hinweis» auf den Geist, nicht aber zu einein Leben im Geiste bringen kann. Er erfaßt auch die Notwendigkeit eines selbständigen Rechtslebens, weil er sich die Einsicht erringt, daß das Rechtsbewußtsein in Gebieten der Menschenseele wurzelt, die nur in einem Menschenzusammenhange wirksam sein können, der in Unabhängigkeit vom Geist- und Wirtschaftsleben sich entfaltet. Solche Einsicht kann nur erlangt werden durch die Erkenntnis des Seelischen im Menschen. Eine Lebensanschauung, die sich heranerzogen hat an der Meinung vom «Unerkennbaren» in dem Sinne vieler heutiger Gedankenrichtungen, wird zu dem Irrtum neigen, man könne eine soziale Struktur der Menschengeselischaften finden, die nur aus den materiellen Tatsachen des Wirtschaftslebens sich gestaltet.
[ 8 ] Der Mut, von dem hier die Rede ist, kann nicht vor der Meinung haltmachen, die Menschen seien nicht «reif» für eine solch gründliche Umwandlung ihres Denkens und Empfindens. Sie werden nur so lange «unreif» sein, als ihnen die Einsicht in das Geistige als Vorurteil «wissenschaftlich» dargelegt wird. Nicht die Unreife ist in der gegenwärtigen Wirrnis das Wirksame, sondern der Glaube, daß Geist-Erkenntnis das Zeichen eines unaufgeklärten Menschen sei. Alle Gestaltungsversuche im sozialen Leben, die aus dieser ungeistigen «Aufklärung» hervorgehen, müssen scheitern, weil sie im Gestalten den Geist ausschalten; dieser aber in dem Augenblicke seine Ansprüche im Unbewußten geltend macht, in dem der Mensch ihn aus seinem Bewußtsein verbannt. Nur wenn der Mensch nicht gegen den Geist wirkt, kann das Geistige die menschlichen Handlungen fördern. Mit dem Geiste aber wirkt nur derjenige, der ihn in sein Bewußtsein aufnimmt. Überwindung derjenigen falschen «Aufklärerei», die aus einer mißverstandenen Natureinsicht hervorgegangen ist und die in der neuesten Zeit zu einem weltlichen Evangelium weiter Menschenmassen geworden ist, wird allein die Grundlage geben können für ein soziales Wissen, das fruchtbar auf das wirkliche Leben einwirken kann.
True enlightenment as the basis of social thinking
[ 1 ] The number of people who emphasize that the only way out of the social confusion of our time is to introduce a spiritual dimension into thinking and feeling is constantly increasing. The disappointments brought about by "economic" ideas, which sought their foundations only in the production of material goods and their distribution, have led many to make such a commitment.
[ 2 ] But one can also clearly see how unfruitful such a commitment to the spirit is in our time. If it is supposed to produce economic views, it fails. For the mere reference to the spirit is not enough. First of all, it merely expresses a need. It is at a loss when it comes to talking about the satisfaction of this need. This fact should be recognized as a task for the present. We should ask ourselves: Why is it that even those who today consider a turn to the spirit necessary for social life do not go beyond discussing this necessity? Why do they not come to really spiritualize economic thinking?
[ 3 ] You will find the answer to this question if you look at the development of thought within civilized humanity in recent times. Those personalities who have come to a world view out of the formation of the times regard it as a sign of their higher "spiritual culture" to speak of the "unknowable" behind things. It has gradually become a widespread belief that only a biased person can still speak about the "essence of things", about "the invisible causes of visible things". Now such an intellectual attitude can be maintained for a while in relation to the knowledge of nature. Natural phenomena present themselves; and even those who do not want to know anything about their causes can describe them and thereby arrive at a certain content of their thinking.
[ 4 ] In economic matters, however, such an intellectual attitude must fail. For there the phenomena are ultimately produced by men; the demands proceed from the minds of men. In man, however, there lives as an entity precisely that for which insight is obstructed when one becomes accustomed to speak of nature as something "unrecognizable", as is the case with many proponents of more recent views of life. Thus it has come about that the recent past has developed habits of thought into the present which completely fail in economic matters. One can contemplate the freezing of water, the development of the embryo, and speak "nobly" of the "unknowable" in the world and admonish contemporaries not to lose themselves in fantasies about this "unknowable". But it is not possible to master economic tasks with a mindset that is trained in such a state of mind. These require an approach to the full human life. And this is where the spiritual-soul dimension prevails, even if it only manifests itself in the demand for the satisfaction of material needs.
[ 5 ] We will only have the kind of economics that the present day needs when we no longer merely "point to" the spirit and the soul, but when we no longer brand the efforts to arrive at a real knowledge of the spirit as "unscientific" and unworthy of an enlightened human being. For one will only be able to judge the soul of man if one sees through its connection with that which one wishes to avoid in the knowledge of nature.
[ 6 ] People who today speak of supersensible things based on their views and who express the belief that the prevailing materialism can only be overcome through such knowledge of the supersensible are replied that materialism has been overcome "scientifically". There are enough disputes which, based on "real" science, prove that materialism is not sufficient to explain natural events. On the other hand, it must be said: Such arguments may be theoretically interesting, but they cannot overcome materialism. It can only be overcome if one does not merely prove theoretically that there is more to the facts of the world than what the senses see; it can only be overcome if a living spirit enters into the observation of world events. Only this spirit, which reigns in human perception, can also oversee the connections that are effective in the material life of human communities. One can prove for a long time that "life" is not a mere chemical process; this will not hurt materialism. We will only fight it effectively when we have the courage not only to say that spirit must be at work in world views, but also to really make this spirit the content of our consciousness.
[ 7 ] The idea of the threefold structure of the social organism is addressed to people who have this courage. This courage seeks to penetrate from the externals of life to its inner essence. It grasps the necessity of cultivating a free, independent spiritual life, because it realizes that a bound spiritual life can at best only reach the point of "pointing" to the spirit, but not to a life in the spirit. He also grasps the necessity of an independent legal life because he gains the insight that legal consciousness is rooted in areas of the human soul that can only be effective in a human context that unfolds independently of spiritual and economic life. Such insight can only be attained through the realization of the soul in man. A view of life that has grown up with the opinion of the "unknowable" in the sense of many of today's schools of thought will tend towards the error that one can find a social structure of human souls that is formed only from the material facts of economic life.
[ 8 ] The courage we are talking about here cannot stop at the opinion that people are not "ripe" for such a thorough transformation of their thinking and feelings. They will only be "immature" as long as the insight into the spiritual is presented to them "scientifically" as a prejudice. It is not immaturity that is effective in the present confusion, but the belief that knowledge of the spirit is the sign of an unenlightened human being. All attempts to shape social life that arise from this unspiritual "enlightenment" must fail, because they eliminate the spirit in the shaping; but the spirit asserts its claims in the unconscious at the moment when man banishes it from his consciousness. Only if man does not work against the spirit can the spiritual promote human actions. But only those who accept the spirit into their consciousness work with it. Overcoming that false "enlightenment" which has emerged from a misunderstood understanding of nature and which in recent times has become a worldly gospel for large masses of people will alone be able to provide the basis for a social knowledge that can have a fruitful effect on real life.