The threefold human being
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 |
The three systems
All three systems have a main focus in an area of the human body and one or more organs, but all of them are spread out over the whole of the body. The threefolding can as well be found in every organ or process on every smaller scale.
Neurosensory system
The main organs of the neurosensory system are the brain and the senses.
Rhythmic system
The main organs of the rhythmic system are the heart and the lung but it encompasses all rhythmical processes in the human being.
Motor-metabolic (limb) system
The main organs of the motor-metabolic system are the liver, the intestine and the muscles.
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.