“Quid est veritas?” (1) Introduction and Mythos

A dismissal of truth appears to be the order of the day. In 2016, for example, the illustrious Oxford English Dictionary selected “post-truth” as its word-of-the-year. The Oxford English Dictionary’s choice expresses the prevailing spirit of the time, since the former’s descriptivist approach entails that its selections are meant to reflect, and not to dictate,…

Calendar of the Soul XXXVII

SEELENKALENDAR “Calendar of the Soul”—Rudolf Steiner’s 52 Verses for the Year ∇ Thirty-seventh Week of the Year ∆ Below is Dr Steiner’s original verse followed by my translation into English. Zu tragen Geisteslicht in Weltenwinternacht Erstrebet selig meines Herzens Trieb, Daß leuchtend Seelenkeime In Weltengründen wurzeln, Und Gotteswort im Sinnesdunkel Verklärend alles Sein durchtönt. ∇∆…

Where do laps go when people stand up?

Where do laps go when people stand up? The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein famously concluded the Tractatus Logico Philosophicus with the enigmatic phrase “Whereover a man cannot speak, thereover must he remain silent.” It is well-known that Wittgenstein later denounced the tenets of his own early work, of which the Tractatus was its culmination. Nevertheless, through…

Enchantment and Liberation: Concerning Colours and the Evolution of Consciousness

“The foal that kicked its mother” is the colourful manner, according to Diogenes Laërtius testimony in Lives of the Philosophers, in which Plato once charaterised his former student following the latter’s departure from the Academy and subsequent founding of his own school, the Lyceum. Diogenes’ testimony is almost certainly false. Nevertheless, the history of Western…

Calendar of the Soul XXXVI

SEELENKALENDAR “Calendar of the Soul”—Rudolf Steiner’s 52 Verses for the Year ∇ Thirty-sixth Week of the Year ∆ Below is Dr Steiner’s original verse followed by my translation into English. In meines Wesens Tiefen spricht Zur Offenbarung drängend Geheimnisvoll das Weltenwort: Erfülle deiner Arbeit Ziele Mit meinem Geisteslichte, Zu opfern dich durch mich. ∇∆ In…

Quantum Mechanics: Fact and Theory, Physics and Philosophy

From this thou mayest conjecture of what sort The ceaseless tossing of primordial seeds Amid the mightier void- at least so far As small affair can for a vaster serve, And by example put thee on the spoor Of knowledge. For this reason too ’tis fit Thou turn thy mind the more unto these bodies…

Calendar of the Soul XXXV

SEELENKALENDAR “Calendar of the Soul”—Rudolf Steiner’s 52 Verses for the Year ∇ Thirty-fifth Week of the Year ∆ Below is Dr Steiner’s original verse followed by my translation into English. Kann ich das Sein erkennen, Daß es sich wiederfindet Im Seelenschaffensdrange ? Ich fühle, daß mir Macht verlieh’n, Das eigne Selbst dem Weltenselbst Als Glied…

What is Life? (3.3) Life as Zoë

In the last chapter of this inquiry, we explored life as psyche. We introduced Aristotle’s delineation of the animate soul into to aisthetikon, to orektikon, to kinetikon, and also conceived of an emotive soul as the active interplay of these three functions. We furthermore considered these soul-faculties in respect to their nature and to their…

Calendar of the Soul XXXIV

SEELENKALENDAR “Calendar of the Soul”—Rudolf Steiner’s 52 Verses for the Year ∇ Thirty-fourth Week of the Year ∆ Below is Dr Steiner’s original verse followed by my translation into English. Geheimnisvoll das Alt-Bewahrte Mit neu erstandnem Eigensein Im Innern sich belebend fühlen: Es soll erweckend Weltenkräfte In meines Lebens Außenwerk ergießen Und werdend mich ins…

What is Life? (3.2) Life as Psyche

In the last piece, we established the soul, or psyche, as an organic body’s life. We also conceived of gradients of this principle, and recognised it to consist, in essence, in degrees of immanent causation. Finally, we briefly considered the most fundamental aspect of the soul, “to threptikon,” which name we adopted from Aristotle’s nomenclature…