XXXI. The Mission of Truth

GA 68c/1909-12-06/p023 ·1909-12-06 · English HighHigh alignmentThis translation's paragraph count matches the German original — the locus maps cleanly to the same paragraph in DE.
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And Goethe was one who could see deeply into the ideas we have presented today. Above all, he was aware of the contrast between reflective and pre-reflective truth. And he beautifully expressed this contrast in a wonderful little poem, his “Pandora”. And just as the individual persons act in the drama, so it happens in the soul. And just as man can bring about harmony between the two powers of the soul through spiritual science, so we see in the drama, after the dawn first appears, announcing peace between the different persons, that is, powers of the soul, finally the sun rises, that is, the individual persons or powers of the soul are reconciled. Goethe wants to show that thinking and reflecting truth must work together, that only through this harmonious confluence can truth fulfill its true mission. Prometheus and Epimetheus must work together in man; this is the great and powerful basic idea of Goethe's “Pandora”.

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Cite: GA 68c/1909-12-06/p023 · edition English