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Six Versions of this work have appeared in English translation, each with its own title. All are complete except the one entitled The Threefold Social Order which is abbreviated.

This work, written late in the life of Rudolf Steiner, makes use of a threefold analysis of the human individual and of human society. Man as an individual or in a group functions basically in three modes: thinking/perceiving, feeling/valuing, and willing/planning/acting. A unit of functioning, whether a part of an individual or part of a society has its proper role. Each role needs a certain respect from other areas if it is to function properly. Each role should be appropriately related to the other two roles or functions. In society, the three partitions are: the cultural-spiritual, the production-economic, and the “sphere of rights” including legal rights. As the analysis unfolds, it may be noticed that there is seldom a “pure case” but there are various mixes with one aspect often predominataing. The manner in which the three aspects of society relate to the three aspects of the individual is a fascinating and intricate one, and one which has an important bearing on the future of human society.

This is not another “utopia” but a practical suggestion concerning details which may be incorporated into society one at a time, from time to time.

The four sections of the book are:
    The Nature of the Social Question in the Life of Modern Man
    Meeting Social Needs
    Capitalism and Creative Social Ideas (Capital and Human Labor)
    International Aspects

Known Publications:

• Goethes Geistesart in ihrer Offenbarung durch seinen “Faust” und durch das “Maerchen Von der Schlange und der Lilie,” German language editions: 1918, 1920, 1926, 1940, 1956, 1979 ISBN 3-7274-0220-2,
• Goethe's Standard of the Soul, Anthroposophical Publishing Co., London, and Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1925, 112 pp. including an English text of “The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily,” translated from the German by D. S. Osmond

GA 23 / Bn 23 / CW 23 ... Selections ...

Die Kernpunkte der sozialen Frage

Mitten in die Nachkriegswirren Europas hinein stellte Steiner im Jahre 1919 seine Ideen über eine radikale Reform des sozialen Lebens. Grundidee dieser Reform war die Autonomie der drei fundamentalen Bereiche Ökonomie, Politik/Justiz und Geistesleben/Kultur. Für eine Weile arbeitete er auf die praktische Realisierung dieser Ideen hin, aber schon bald wurde klar, dass die sogenannte “Dreigliederung des sozialen Organismus” noch nicht möglich war und Steiner zog sich von der praktischen Arbeit in diesem Bereich zurück. Seine Ideen jedoch waren in den folgenden Jahrzehnten überaus einflussreich und scheinen heute noch genauso Geltung zu haben wie damals.

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Basic Issues of the Social Question

In the social ferment of postwar Europe in 1919, Steiner presented his ideas about reforming the basis of society in three fundamental, autonomous spheres: economic, political/rights, and cultural. For a short time he worked to bring his ideas into practical application but it soon became impossible to bring about a “threefold social order” and he withdrew from the outer work in this area. His ideas have been worked with over the decades since that time and have proved to be just as valid today as they were then. This volume is a presentation of Steiner's central ideas on the threefold nature of the social organism. Translation by Frank Thomas Smith.

The Threefold Social Order

This volume is a presentation of Steiner's central ideas on the threefold nature of the social organism. Translation by Frederick C. Heckel. Five Versions of this work have appeared in English translation, each with its own title. All are complete except this one which is abbreviated. The German language title is, Die Kernpunkte der Sozialen Frage in den Lebensnotwendigkeiten der Gegenwart und Zukunft. (vol. 23 in the Bibliographic Survey).

Toward a Threefold Society

This book was written in 1919, just after the First World War, and suggests solutions to the social, political and economic problems of those times. At the end of the book, Steiner writes: “... either people will accommodate their thinking to the requirements of reality, or they will have learned nothing from the calamity and will cause innumerable new ones to occur in the future.” History since then has proven these words to be prophetic. The “social question” has not been resolved, nor have steps been taken to initiate the healing process. We all too often look to the political state for the solutions to all social problems, be they of an economic, cultural or political nature. Steiner's concept of a tripartite, or threefold society in which the economic, cultural and political spheres would enjoy relative autonomy within the social organism has not yet been tried. This book contains his basic ideas for the restructuring of society. Frank Thonas Smith has rejuvinated his earlier translation of Basic Issues of the Social Question.

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