--| Goethe - All Works as One Spirit |--- [In the Goethean world view, all creative forces work in a unifed way. Everything in the universe is for Goethe... one creative spirit.] All the workings of we take note of in experience, no matter what their nature, are interconnected in the most consistent way, pass over into one another; they undulate from the first ones to the last. A tile works loose from the roof: we ordinarily say this happens by chance; the tile, after all, certainly strikes the shoulders of a passerby mechanically: it follows the laws of gravity and thus works physically. Ruptured bodily organs cease functioning; at the same moment the fluids work chemically, the qualities of the elements emergy. But the interupted organic life reasserts itself just as quickly and seeks to reestablish itself; meanwhile the hhuman entity is more or less unconscious ond physically disorganized. The person, regaining consciousness, feels himself ethically wounded to the depths; he laments his interupted activity, no matter of what kind it may be, for no one wants to endure this patiently. Religiously, on the other hand, he can easily attribute this case to a higher destiny and regard it as saving him from far greater harm, as leading to a higher good. This suffices for the sufferer; but the convalescent rises to his feet highly gifted, trusts God and himself and feels himself saved, really takes up also what happens by chance, turns it to his advantage, in order to begin an eternally fresh life's cycle. (exerpt from, 'Goethe's World View') -- See Also: - Goethe - Nature - Goethe vs Newton on Colour SUBMIT AN ARTICLE posted: April 29, 2005 updated: January 29, 2006: updated titles for clarity.