Donate books to help fund our work. Learn more→

The Rudolf Steiner Archive

a project of Steiner Online Library, a public charity

The Riddles of the Soul
GA 21

The title, Riddles of the Soul. Anthropology and anthroposophy, Max Dessoir about anthroposophy, Franz Brentano (an obituary). Sketchy extensions, says a lot. The statements in this publication that Rudolf Steiner pulls “some of the scientific threads that need to be drawn from the philosophy of anthroposophy, the psychology and physiology.” The significant finding of tripartism of the human organism finds its first representation here.

Another version of this volume is, The Case For Anthroposophy. It contains English translations of eight of the eleven essays appearing in the German original. The three sections in the German original which do not appear in the English translation are: Max Dessoir on Anthroposophy, Franz Brentano (a memorial address), and The Separation of the Psychological from the Non-Psychological in Franz Brentano.

The Case for Anthroposophy (1970)

This version of Von Seelenrätseln, an abbreviated version, three of the topics are left out and the title was changed to, The Case for Anthroposophy. It was published in 1970 by the Rudolf Steiner Press in London, England, and translated by Owen Barfield.


The Riddles of the Soul (1996)

The translator William Lindeman sums this volume up nicely: If ever a difficult book was worth every minute of effort it requires, this is it—all of it, not just the parts already published as The Case For Anthroposophy.


Von Seelenrätseln

Mit den Ausführungen dieser Schrift zieht Rudolf Steiner "einige der wissenschaftlichen Fäden, die von der Anthroposophie zur Philosophie, zur Psychologie und zur Physiologie gezogen werden müssen". Besondere Bedeutung kommt in diesem Zusammenhang den Erlebnissen zu, die man in der Erfahrung der Grenzen haben kann, an die das gewöhnliche wissenschaftliche Erkennens notwendig stoßen muss.