The threefold human being
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A basic concept of the anthroposophical teaching of illness that remains almost unchanged to this day is the concept of the "threefold structure" of the human being developed by Steiner in the early 1920s.[1] Steiner distinguished three organ systems:
- In the neurosensory system that has its center in the head, consciousness develops of our own inner world, and also of the outer world, which we perceive through our senses.[2]
- The motor-metabolic (limb) system deals with the material world. Matter can be moved with our hands and substances are being digested to nourish the human body.
- The rhythmic system mediates rhythmically between the two beforementioned poles. Central organs are the heart and the lungs but it encompasses all rhythmical processes in the human being.
| Neurosensory system | Rhythmic system | Motor-metabolic (limb) system | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main region(s) | Head | Thorax | Abdomen, limbs |
| Main organ(s) | Brain, Senses | Heart, lung | Intestine, liver, muscles |
| Movement | Stillness | Both | Movement |
| Consciousness | Awake | Dreaming | Sleeping |
| Thinking | Feeling | Willing | |
| Substantiality | Information, imponderables | Both | Substance, matter, ponderables |
| Metabolism | Catabolism | Both | Anabolism |
References
- ↑ Jütte, Robert (1996). Geschichte der Alternativen Medizin [History of alternative medicine]. Munich: Beck. pp. 244f. ISBN 978-3406404955.
- ↑ Girke, Matthias; Soldner, Georg (22 October 2018). "Functional Threefolding". Anthromedics. Retrieved 2021-11-07.