Anthroposophy and the Riddle of the Soul

It is now almost half a century since the great physiologist du Bois-Reymond gave a speech at the 45th Naturalists' Conference in Leipzig that must always be referred to, despite the fact that it has been talked about an extraordinary amount and has now almost been forgotten and disappeared from the discussion. This speech was about the “limits of knowledge of nature”, and du Bois-Reymond rightly states on the one hand, the limits of knowledge of nature, the material world in its essence. He says: Wherever matter comes into play, the human mind cannot penetrate. It penetrates from the external observation of the external sensory phenomena to the revelation of material existence, but it cannot specify what matter itself actually is. This is the one limit du Bois-Reymond indicates. He indicates the other limit as that of human consciousness, but today this is nothing other than the human soul. He says: Even with the most complete knowledge of nature, one cannot even gain any idea of how the simplest sensation comes about in the human soul. Even if one knew quite clearly how carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen atoms move in the human brain, one would never be able to fathom from a clear insight into these movements how the simplest sensation – “I see red”, “I smell the scent of roses” – comes about, that is, how the first elements of mental life come about.