28 Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path
brought concepts such as “sphere,” “elasticity,” “move-
ment,” “impact,” “velocity,” etc. into a certain connection
with each other. To this interconnection of concepts the
observed process then stands in a particular relation. Cer-
tainly the process that I observe completes itself indepen-
dently of me. Just as certainly, however, the conceptual
process cannot play itself out without my participation.
Whether my activity is really an expression of my inde-
pendent essence, or whether contemporary physiologists
are right in saying that I cannot think as I wish, but rather
have tothink as the thoughts and thought-connections cur-
rently in my consciousness determine^1 —this will be the
subject of later discussion. For the time being, we wish
merely to establish that, with regard to the objects and pro-
cesses given us without our participation, we feel com-
pelled continually to seek concepts and conceptual
connections that stand in a certain relationship to those ob-
jects and processes. For the moment, we shall leave aside
the question of whether this activity is reallyouracti-
vity, or whether we carry it out in accord with unalterable
- Compare Theodor Ziehen,Principles of Physiological Psychol-
ogy, Jena, 1893. (Author’s note)
Ziehen (1862–1950) was a German psychiatrist, physiologist, and
psychologist. Cf. Rudolf Steiner, Anthroposophy and Science
(Spring Valley: Mercury Press, 1991): “ Ziehen undertook to explain
mental life in such a way that he replaced it by brain activity. His
explanation is essentially the following: he contemplates mental life;
he then considers the brain and nervous system anatomically and
physiologically (to the extent that present empirical research per-
mits) and shows which processes, in his opinion are present in the
brain for a particular mental activity (including memory).” (pp 81ff).
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