A Theory of Knowledge
GA 2
Foreword to the First Edition
[ 1 ] When Professor Kürschner did me the honor of intrusting to me the task of editing the scientific writings of Goethe for the Deutsche National-Literatur, I was fully aware of the difficulties confronting me in such an undertaking. It would be necessary for me to oppose a point of view which had become almost universally established.
[ 2 ] While the conviction is everywhere gaining ground that Goethe's poetical writings are the basis of our whole culture, even those who go farthest in recognition of his scientific writings see in these nothing more than premonitions of truths which have been fully confirmed in the later progress of science. Because of his genius—so it is held—it was possible for him at a glance to attain to premonitions of natural laws that were later discovered again by strictly scientific methods quite independently of him. What is admitted in the highest degree as regards the other activities of Goethe—that every well informed person must reach a judgment with regard to these—is not admitted as regards his scientific point of view. It is by no means acknowledged that, by familiarizing ourselves with the scientific works of the poet, something may be gained which science does not also afford us apart from him.
[ 3 ] When I was introduced by my beloved teacher, Karl Julius Schröer, to the world-conception of Goethe, my thinking had already taken a direction which made it possible for me to direct my attention, beyond the single discoveries of the poet, to the fundamentals: to the manner in which Goethe blended such a single discovery with the totality of his conception of Nature; the manner in which he made use of this discovery in order to arrive at an insight into the interrelationships of the entities of Nature, or—to use the striking expression he himself employed in the paperAnschauende Urteilskraft 1perceptive power of thought.Cf. Goethes naturwissenschaftliche Schriften, inKürschners Deutsche National-Literatur,Vol. I, p. 115.—in order to participate mentally in the productions of Nature. I soon recognized that those achievements which contemporary science attributes to Goethe were not the essential thing, while the really significant matter was overlooked. Those single discoveries would really have been made without Goethe's researches; but his lofty conception of Nature will be absent from science so long as this conception is not derived from Goethe himself. It was thus that the direction to be taken by my introductions for the edition was determined. These must show that each single detailed opinion expressed by Goethe is to be derived from the totality of his genius.2The manner in which my opinions blend with the totality of Goethe's world-conception is discussed by Schröer in his foreword toKürschners Deutsche National-Literatur,Vol. I, pp. I-XIV. Cf. also his edition ofFaust, Vol. II, 2nd edition, p. VII.
[ 4 ] The principles according to which this must be carried out constitute the subject matter of the present brief treatise. It undertakes to show that what we set forth as Goethe's scientific views is capable of being established upon its own self-sufficing foundation.
[ 5 ] With this, I have said all that seemed to me necessary as a preface to the following discussion, except that I must discharge a pleasing duty—the expression of my most heartfelt thanks to Professor Kürschner, who has lent me his assistance in this composition with the same extraordinary friendliness that he has always shown toward my scientific undertakings.
Rudolf Steiner
The end of April, 1886
Vorwort zur ersten Auflage 1886
[ 1 ] Als mir durch Herrn Prof. Kürschner der ehrenvolle Auftrag wurde, die Herausgabe von Goethes naturwissenschaftlichen Schriften für die Deutsche National-Literatur zu besorgen, war ich mir der Schwierigkeiten sehr wohl bewußt, die mir bei einem solchen Unternehmen gegenüberstehen. Ich mußte einer Ansicht, die sich fast allgemein festgesetzt hat, entgegentreten.
[ 2 ] Während die Überzeugung immer mehr an Verbreitung gewinnt, daß Goethes Dichtungen die Grundlage unserer ganzen Bildung sind, sehen selbst jene, die am weitesten in der Anerkennung seiner wissenschaftlichen Bestrebungen gehen, in diesen nicht mehr als Vorahnungen von Wahrheiten, die im späteren Verlaufe der Wissenschaft ihre volle Bestätigung gefunden haben. Seinem genialischen Blicke soll es hier gelungen sein, Naturgesetzlichkeiten zu ahnen, die dann unabhängig von ihm von der strengen Wissenschaft wieder gefunden wurden. Was man der übrigen Tätigkeit Goethes im vollsten Maße zugesteht, daß sich jeder Gebildete mit ihr auseinanderzusetzen hat, das wird bei seiner wissenschaftlichen Ansicht abgelehnt. Man wird durchaus nicht zugeben, daß man durch ein Eingehen auf des Dichters wissenschaftliche Werke etwas gewinnen könne, was die Wissenschaft nicht auch ohne ihn heute bieten würde.
[ 3 ] Als ich durch K.J.Schröer, meinen vielgeliebten Lehrer, in die Weltansicht Goethes eingeführt wurde, hatte mein Denken bereits eine Richtung genommen, die es mir möglich machte, mich über die bloßen Einzelentdeckungen des Dichters hinweg zur Hauptsache zu wenden: zu der Art, wie Goethe eine solche Einzeltatsache dem Ganzen seiner Naturauffassung einfügte, wie er sie verwertete, um zu einer Einsicht in den Zusammenhang der Naturwesen zu gelangen oder wie er sich selbst (in dem Aufsatze «Anschauende Urteilskraft») 1Goethe, «Anschauende Urteilskraft»: Vergleiche Goethes Naturwissenschaftliche Schriften, Band I, Seite 115, in Kürschners Deutscher, National-Literatur. so treffend ausdrückt, um an den Produktionen der Natur geistig teilzunehmen. Ich erkannte bald, daß jene Errungenschaften, die Goethe von der heutigen Wissenschaft zugestanden werden, das Unwesentliche sind, während das Bedeutsame gerade übersehen wird. Jene Einzelentdeckungen wären wirklich auch ohne Goethes Forschen gemacht worden; seiner großartigen Naturauffassung aber wird die Wissenschaft solange entbehren, als sie sie nicht direkt von ihm selbst schöpft. Damit war die Richtung gegeben, die die Einleitungen zu meiner Ausgabe zu nehmen haben. Sie müssen zeigen, daß jede einzelne von Goethe ausgesprochene Ansicht aus der Totalität seines Genius abzuleiten ist.2Über die Art, wie sich meine Ansichten dem Gesamtbilde Goethescher Weltanschauung einfügen, handelt Schröer in seinem Vorworte zu Goethes Naturwissenschaftlichen Schriften (Kürschners National-Literatur, Band I, Seite I-XIV). (Vergleiche auch dessen Faust-Ausgabe, II. Teil, 6. Auflage, Stuttgart 1926, Seite V.)
[ 4 ] Die Prinzipien, nach denen dies zu geschehen hat, sind der Gegenstand des vorliegenden Schriftchens. Es soll zeigen, daß das, was wir als Goethes wissenschaftliche Anschauungen hinstellen, auch einer selbständigen Begründung fähig ist.
[ 5 ] Damit hätte ich alles gesagt, was mir den folgenden Abhandlungen voranzuschicken nötig schien. Es obliegt mir nur noch, eine angenehme Pflicht zu erfüllen, nämlich Herrn Prof. Kürschner, der in der außerordentlich wohlwollenden Weise, in der er meinen wissenschaftlichen Bemühungen stets entgegengekommen ist, auch diesem Schriftchen seine Förderung freundlichst angedeihen ließ, meinen tiefgefühltesten Dank auszusprechen.
Ende April 1886
Rudolf Steiner
Foreword to the first edition 1886
[ 1 ] When Prof. Kürschner gave me the honorable commission to publish Goethe's scientific writings for the Deutsche National-Literatur, I was well aware of the difficulties I would face in such an undertaking. I had to counter an opinion that had become almost universally accepted.
[ 2 ] While the conviction that Goethe's poems are the foundation of our entire education is becoming more and more widespread, even those who go furthest in recognizing his scientific endeavours see in them no more than premonitions of truths that have found their full confirmation in the later course of science. His ingenious eye is said to have succeeded here in divining natural laws, which were then found again by strict science independently of him. What one concedes to the fullest extent to Goethe's other activities, that every educated person has to deal with them, is rejected in his scientific view. It will certainly not be conceded that one can gain anything by studying the poet's scientific works that science would not offer today even without him.
[ 3 ] When I was introduced by K.J. Schröer, my much-loved teacher, introduced me to Goethe's view of the world, my thinking had already taken a direction that made it possible for me to turn beyond the poet's mere individual discoveries to the main thing: to the way in which Goethe inserted such an individual fact into the whole of his conception of nature, how he utilized it in order to arrive at an insight into the connection of natural beings or how he himself (in the essay "Anschauende Urteilskraft") 1Goethe, "Anschauende Urteilskraft": compare Goethe's Natural Science Writings, Volume I, page 115, in Kürschners Deutscher, National-Literatur. to participate spiritually in the productions of nature. I soon realized that those achievements conceded to Goethe by today's science are the insignificant, while the significant is just overlooked. Those individual discoveries really would have been made without Goethe's research; but science will be deprived of his great conception of nature as long as it does not draw it directly from him. Thus the direction that the introductions to my edition have to take was given. They must show that every single view expressed by Goethe can be derived from the totality of his genius.2The way in which my views fit into the overall picture of Goethe's world view is discussed by Schröer in his preface to Goethe's Naturwissenschaftliche Schriften (Kürschners National-Literatur, Vol. I, pp. I-XIV). (See also his Faust edition, Part II, 6th edition, Stuttgart 1926, page V.)
[ 4 ] The principles according to which this is to be done are the subject of the present pamphlet. It is intended to show that what we present as Goethe's scientific views is also capable of independent justification.
[ 5 ] Thus, I have said everything that seemed to me necessary to preface the following essays. It only remains for me to fulfill a pleasant duty, namely to express my deepest gratitude to Prof. Kürschner, who, in the extraordinarily benevolent manner in which he has always accommodated my scientific efforts, has also kindly lent his support to this little book.