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{{GZ|What is individuality? Individuality is that which rises in the world full of content. If I have a content-filled future thought, if I form an image of what I am inserting into the world, my personality may be powerful or weak, but it is the carrier of these ideals, the shell of my individuality. The sum of all these ideals is the individuality which shines forth from the personality.|53|285}}
{{GZ|What is individuality? Individuality is that which rises in the world full of content. If I have a content-filled future thought, if I form an image of what I am inserting into the world, my personality may be powerful or weak, but it is the carrier of these ideals, the shell of my individuality. The sum of all these ideals is the individuality which shines forth from the personality.|53|285}}
The [[intellect]] plays a significant role in the formation of the personality:
{{GGZ|The present has developed the personality. The personal is the characteristic, the meaningful aspect of the human being. All other differentiations, even the differentiations between man and woman, are overcome. Today there is only personality, without any other differentiation. Let us bear in mind that humanity had to pass through this point of passage; and let us bear in mind that what we call personality here is called lower manas in the Theosophical world-view: that is the power of thought which relates to the immediate world. Man is therefore a personality in so far as he belongs to the world of the senses, and to this world of the senses belongs also the combining intellect. Everything that man can think out of the intellect, which elevates his personality, we must raise to a higher level if we wish to comprehend it in its true essence.|53|309f}}
And yet the intellect is only a (necessary) diversion to the realisation of the actual [[spiritual]] individuality:
{{GGZ|The understanding is therefore only a diversion and does not lead out of the world of the senses. But where the spiritual world shines into this world: in the great works of art, in the original ideas which go beyond everyday needs, or where something of what we call the theosophical world-view shines in, something higher shines in; then the human spirit does not merely become a processor of what is all around it, but then it is a channel through which the spirit flows into the world. He brings something productive into this world. Every individual human being is a channel through which a world of spirit pours out. As long as man seeks only the satisfaction of his needs, he is personality. When he does what leads beyond that, he is individuality. We can find this source only in the single individual; man is the mediator between the spiritual and sensual worlds, man mediates between the two. This is the twofold way in which we can face the human being.
As a personality we are all basically the same: the intellect is perhaps a little more developed in one, a little less in another. But it is not so with individuality. That's where a person becomes a special character, where everyone brings something special to his mission. If I want to know what he is to be as a personality in the world, if I want to know what he can be as an individuality through his originality, then I must wait until something flows into this world through this channel from the spiritual world. If this influence is to take place, we must regard every human being as an unsolved riddle. Through each individuality the original spiritual power flows to us. As long as we regard man as a personality, we can regulate him: If we speak of general duties and rights, we speak of personality. But if we speak of individuality, we cannot force man into a form; he must be the bearer of his originality.|53|311f}}


==Literature==
==Literature==

Revision as of 16:21, 16 March 2021

The spiritual individuality of man progresses through repeated earth lives in the course of its development. In each of these individual earth lives it reveals itself as a very specific, unmistakable personality. Individuality and personality must therefore be clearly distinguished from each other.

„What is individuality? Individuality is that which rises in the world full of content. If I have a content-filled future thought, if I form an image of what I am inserting into the world, my personality may be powerful or weak, but it is the carrier of these ideals, the shell of my individuality. The sum of all these ideals is the individuality which shines forth from the personality.“ (Lit.:GA 53, p. 285)

The intellect plays a significant role in the formation of the personality:

„The present has developed the personality. The personal is the characteristic, the meaningful aspect of the human being. All other differentiations, even the differentiations between man and woman, are overcome. Today there is only personality, without any other differentiation. Let us bear in mind that humanity had to pass through this point of passage; and let us bear in mind that what we call personality here is called lower manas in the Theosophical world-view: that is the power of thought which relates to the immediate world. Man is therefore a personality in so far as he belongs to the world of the senses, and to this world of the senses belongs also the combining intellect. Everything that man can think out of the intellect, which elevates his personality, we must raise to a higher level if we wish to comprehend it in its true essence.“ (S. 309f)

And yet the intellect is only a (necessary) diversion to the realisation of the actual spiritual individuality:

„The understanding is therefore only a diversion and does not lead out of the world of the senses. But where the spiritual world shines into this world: in the great works of art, in the original ideas which go beyond everyday needs, or where something of what we call the theosophical world-view shines in, something higher shines in; then the human spirit does not merely become a processor of what is all around it, but then it is a channel through which the spirit flows into the world. He brings something productive into this world. Every individual human being is a channel through which a world of spirit pours out. As long as man seeks only the satisfaction of his needs, he is personality. When he does what leads beyond that, he is individuality. We can find this source only in the single individual; man is the mediator between the spiritual and sensual worlds, man mediates between the two. This is the twofold way in which we can face the human being.

As a personality we are all basically the same: the intellect is perhaps a little more developed in one, a little less in another. But it is not so with individuality. That's where a person becomes a special character, where everyone brings something special to his mission. If I want to know what he is to be as a personality in the world, if I want to know what he can be as an individuality through his originality, then I must wait until something flows into this world through this channel from the spiritual world. If this influence is to take place, we must regard every human being as an unsolved riddle. Through each individuality the original spiritual power flows to us. As long as we regard man as a personality, we can regulate him: If we speak of general duties and rights, we speak of personality. But if we speak of individuality, we cannot force man into a form; he must be the bearer of his originality.“ (S. 311f)

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
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