Appendix to the Public Lectures
GA 85
4 July 1900, Berlin
Translated by Steiner Online Library
42. Matter Is Never Without Spirit
Speech at the Giordano Bruno Association
[ 1 ] The meeting on July 4 was devoted to a discussion of the lecture titled “Matter Never Without Spirit,” as mentioned by Dr. Wille. Dr. W[ille] began by defending his views against various objections raised against them at the previous meeting. […] Then Dr. Rudolf Steiner spoke: He began by providing information about the origins of Goethe’s prose hymn “Nature.” He then expressed doubt that Goethe’s views were consistent with those of Dr. Wille. Goethe, he said, was an empiricist. Dr. Wille, on the other hand, is a metaphysician, since he anthropomorphizes nature. Whether one describes the world as an organism or believes in a personal God in the dualistic sense is essentially the same; both are conceived in teleological terms. […]