Ego / I (4)
Das Ich — the central principle
Das Ich — the I, the ego in the philosophical (not Freudian) sense. This is the member peculiar to the human being: not 'self' in the sense of the felt person, but the being that can refer to itself by the word 'I' and that constitutes the morally accountable centre of the human. The I is what distinguishes the human from the animal in Anthroposophy and what does the work of refining the lower three members into the higher three. Steiner is precise that 'I' is the only word in any language that no person can apply to another person — it is a name only the speaker can speak about themselves; for that reason it names something inaccessible from outside. The I is the central principle of the seven-fold constitution and the engine of spiritual development.
Point 4 of 7 in Anthroposophy — Steiner's Seven-Fold Human
Cross-tradition overlaps
No overlapping points are registered for this point.
Sources
Rudolf Steiner, Theosophie (primary_canonical)
“There is a name which differs from all others in this, that no other being than oneself can apply it to oneself; this name is 'I'. From all other names something stands out which can be called the 'higher member' of man's nature.”