 Rudolf Steiner
(portrait circa 1906)
Rudolf Steiner was born in 1861 and died in 1925. In his autobiography,
The Course of My Life
(see fn 1), he makes quite clear that the problems dealt
with in The Philosophy of Freedom played a leading part in his life.
His childhood was spent in the Austrian countryside, where his father
was a stationmaster. At the age of eight Steiner was already aware of
things and beings that are not seen as well as those that are. Writing
about his experiences at this age, he said, ". . . the reality of the
spiritual world was as certain to me as that of the physical. I felt
the need, however, for a sort of justification for this assumption."
Recognizing the boy's ability, his father sent him to the Realschule
at Wiener Neustadt, and later to the Technical University in Vienna.
Here Steiner had to support himself, by means of scholarships and
tutoring. Studying and mastering many more subjects than were in his
curriculum, he always came back to the problem of knowledge itself.
He was very much aware: that in the experience of oneself as an ego,
one is in the world of the spirit. Although he took part in all the
social activities going on around him - in the arts, the sciences,
even in politics - he wrote that "much more vital at that time was
the need to find an answer to the question: How far is it possible
to prove that in human thinking real spirit is the agent?"
He made a deep study of philosophy, particularly the writings of Kant,
but nowhere did he find a way of thinking that could be carried as far
as a perception of the spiritual world. Thus Steiner was led to develop
a theory of knowledge out of his own striving after truth, one which
took its start from a direct experience of the spiritual nature of thinking.
As a student, Steiner's scientific ability was acknowledged when he was
asked to edit Goethe's writings on nature. In Goethe he recognized one
who had been able to perceive the spiritual in nature, even though he
had not carried this as far as a direct perception of the spirit. Steiner
was able to bring a new understanding to Goethe's scientific work through
this insight into his perception of nature. Since no existing philosophical
theory could take this kind of vision into account, and since Goethe had
never stated explicitly what his philosophy of life was, Steiner filled
this need by publishing, in 1886, an introductory book called The Theory of
Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception. His introductions to the
several volumes and sections of Goethe's scientific writings (1883–97) have
been collected into the book Goethe the Scientist. These are valuable
contributions to the philosophy of science.
During this time his thoughts about his own philosophy were gradually
coming to maturity. In the year 1888 he met Eduard von Hartmann, with
whom he had already had a long correspondence. He describes the chilling
effect on him of the way this philosopher of pessimism denied that
thinking could ever reach reality, but must forever deal with illusions.
Steiner was already clear in his mind how such obstacles were to be
overcome. He did not stop at the problem of knowledge, but carried his
ideas from this realm into the field of ethics, to help him deal with
the problem of human freedom. He wanted to show that morality could be
given a sure foundation without basing it upon imposed rules of conduct.
Meanwhile his work of editing had taken him away from his beloved Vienna
to Weimar. Here Steiner wrestled with the task of presenting his ideas to
the world. His observations of the spiritual had all the exactness of a
science, and yet his experience of the reality of ideas was in some ways
akin to the mystic's experience. Mysticism presents the intensity of
immediate knowledge with conviction, but deals only with subjective
impressions; it fails to deal with the reality outside man. Science, on
the other hand, consists of ideas about the world, even if the ideas are
mainly materialistic. By starting from the spiritual nature of thinking,
Steiner was able to form ideas that bear upon the spiritual world in the
same way that the ideas of natural science bear upon the physical. Thus he
could describe his philosophy as the result of "introspective observation
following the methods of Natural Science." He first presented an outline
of his ideas in his doctoral dissertation,
Truth and Knowledge,
which bore the sub-title "Prelude to a 'Philosophy of Freedom'."
In 1894
The Philosophy of
Freedom was published, and the content which had
formed the centre of his life's striving was placed before the world.
Steiner was deeply disappointed at the lack of understanding it received.
Hartmann's reaction was typical; instead of accepting the discovery that
thinking can lead to the reality of the spirit in the world, he continued
to think that "spirit" was merely a concept existing in the human mind,
and freedom an illusion based on ignorance. Such was fundamentally the
view of the age to which Steiner introduced his philosophy. But however it
seemed to others, Steiner had in fact established a firm foundation for
knowledge of the spirit, and now he felt able to pursue his researches in
this field without restraint. The Philosophy of Freedom summed up the
ideas he had formed to deal with the riddles of existence that had so far
dominated his life. "The further way," he wrote, "could now be nothing
else but a struggle to find the right form of ideas to express the
spiritual world itself."
While still at Weimar, Steiner wrote two more books,
Friedrich Nietzsche,
Fighter for Freedom (1895), inspired by a visit to the aged
philosopher,
and Goethe's Conception of the World (1897), which completed his
work in this field. He then moved to Berlin to take over the editing of a
literary magazine; here he wrote Riddles of Philosophy (1901) and
Mysticism and Modern
Thought (1901). He also embarked on an
ever-increasing activity of lecturing. But his real task lay in deepening
his knowledge of the spiritual world until he could reach the point of
publishing the results of this research.
The rest of his life was devoted to building up a complete science of
the spirit, to which he gave the name Anthroposophy.
Foremost amongst
his discoveries was his direct experience of the reality of the Christ,
which soon took a central place in his whole teaching. The many books
and lectures which he published set forth the magnificent scope of his
vision.(2) From 1911 he turned also to the arts - drama,
painting,
architecture, eurythmy - showing the creative forming powers that can
be drawn from spiritual vision. As a response to the disaster of the
1914–18 war, he showed how the social sphere could be given new life
through an insight into the nature of man, his initiative bearing
practical fruit in the fields of education, agriculture, therapy and
medicine. After a few more years of intense activity, now as the leader
of a world-wide movement, he died, leaving behind him an achievement
that must allow his recognition as the first Initiate of the age of
science.(3) Anthroposophy is itself a science, firmly
based on the results
of observation, and open to investigation by anyone who is prepared to
follow the path of development he pioneered - a path that takes its
start from the struggle for inner freedom set forth in this book.
Michael Wilson, Clent, 1964. From the introduction to The Philosophy of Freedom
Footnotes:
- Published in parts from 1923–5, and never completed.
The titles given for Dr. Steiner's books are those of the English translations.
Read the 1928 edition titled The Story of My Life.
- The list of titles is long, but the more important
books include:
- For an account of the life and work of
Rudolf Steiner,
see A Scientist of The Invisible, by A. P. Shepherd (1954).
The range of his contribution
to modern thought can be seen in The Faithful Thinker, edited by A. C.
Harwood (1961).
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