Introduction
RUDOLF STEINER: THE MAN AND HIS
WORK
RUDOLF STEINER is one of those figures who appear
at critical moments in human history, and whose contribution places
them in the vanguard of the progress of mankind.
Born in Austria in 1861, educated at the
Technische Hochschule in Vienna, where he specialized in the
study of mathematics and science, Steiner received recognition as a
scholar when he was invited to edit the well-known Kurschner edition
of the natural scientific writings of Goethe. Already in 1886 at the
age of twenty-five, he had shown his comprehensive grasp of the
deeper implications of Goethe's way of thinking by writing his
Grundlinien einer Erkenntnistheorie der Goetheschen
Weltanschauung (Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's
Conception of the World). Four years later he was called to join the
group of eminent scholars in residence at Weimar, where he worked
with them at the Goethe-Schiller Archives for some years. A further
result of these activities was the writing of his Goethes
Weltanschauung (Goethe's Conception of the World) which, together
with his introductions and commentary on Goethe's scientific
writings, established Steiner as one of the outstanding exponents of
Goethe's methodology.
In these years Steiner came into the circle of
those around the aged Nietzsche. Out of the profound impression which
this experience made upon him, he wrote his Friedrich Nietzsche,
Ein Kampfer gegen seine Zeit (Friedrich Nietzsche, a Fighter
Against his Time), published in 1895. This work evaluates the
achievements of the great philosopher against the background of his
tragic life-experience on the one hand, and the spirit of the
nineteenth century on the other.
In 1891 Steiner received his Ph.D. at the
University of Rostock. His thesis dealt with the scientific teaching
of Fichte, and is further evidence of Steiner's ability to evaluate
the work of men whose influence has gone far to shape the thinking of
the modern world. In somewhat enlarged form, this thesis appeared
under the title, Wahrheit und Wissenschaft (Truth and
Science), as the preface to Steiner's chief philosophical work,
Die Philosophie der Freiheit, 1894. Later he suggested The
Philosophy of Spiritual Activity as the title of the English
translation of this book.
At about this time Steiner began his work as a
lecturer. This activity was eventually to occupy the major portion of
his time and was to take him on repeated lecture tours throughout
Western Europe. These journeys extended from Norway, Sweden and
Finland in the north to Italy and Sicily in the South, and included
several visits to the British Isles. From about the turn of the
century to his death in 1925, Steiner gave well over 6,000 lectures
before audiences of most diverse backgrounds and from every walk of
life.
First in Vienna, later in Weimar and Berlin,
Steiner wrote for various periodicals and for the daily press. For
nearly twenty years, observations on current affairs, reviews of
books and plays, along with comment on scientific and philosophical
developments flowed from his pen. Finally, upon completion of his
work at Weimar, Steiner moved to Berlin in 1897 to assume the
editorship of Das Magazin fur Litteratur, a well-known
literary periodical which had been founded by Joseph Lehmann in 1832,
the year of Goethe's death.
Steiner's written works, which eventually included
over fifty titles, together with his extensive lecturing activity
brought him into contact with increasing numbers of people in many
countries. The sheer physical and mental vigor required to carry on a
life of such broad, constant activity would alone be sufficient to
mark him as one of the most creatively productive men of our
time.
The philosophical outlook of Rudolf Steiner
embraces such fundamental questions as the being of man, the nature
and purpose of freedom, the meaning of evolution, the relation of man
to nature, the life after death and before birth. On these and
similar subjects, Steiner had unexpectedly new, inspiring and
thought-provoking things to say. Through a study of his writings one
can come to a clear, reasonable, comprehensive understanding of the
human being and his place in the universe.
It is noteworthy that in all his years of work,
Steiner made no appeal to emotionalism or sectarianism in his readers
or hearers. His scrupulous regard and deep respect for the freedom of
every man shines through everything he produced. The slightest
compulsion or persuasion he considered an affront to the dignity and
ability of the human being. Therefore, he confined himself to
objective statements in his writing and speaking, leaving his readers
and hearers entirely free to reject or accept his words.
Rudolf Steiner repeatedly emphasized that it is
not educational background alone, but the healthy, sound, judgment
and good will of each individual that enables the latter to
comprehend what he has to say. While men and women eminent in
cultural, social, political and scientific life have been and are
among those who have studied and have found value in Steiner's work,
experience has shown repeatedly that his ideas can be grasped by the
simplest people. His ability to reach, without exception, all who
come to meet his ideas with the willingness to understand, is
another example of the well-known hallmark of genius.
The ideas of Rudolf Steiner address themselves to
the humanity in men and women of every race and of every religious
and philosophical point of view, and included them. However, it
should be observed that for Steiner the decisive event in world
development and the meaning of the historical process is centered in
the life and activity of the Christ. Thus, his point of view is
essentially Christian, but not in a limited or doctrinal sense. The
ideas expressed in his Das Christentum als mystische Tatsache und
die Mysterien des Altertums (Christianity as Mystical Fact and
the Mysteries of Antiquity), 1902, and in other works, especially his
cycles of lectures on the Gospels (1908-1912), have brought to many a
totally new relationship to Christianity, sufficiently broad to
include men of every religious background in full tolerance, yet more
deeply grounded in basic reality than are many of the creeds current
today.
From his student days, Steiner had been occupied
with the education of children. Through his own experience as tutor
in Vienna and later as instructor in a school for working men and
women in Berlin, he had ample opportunity to gain first-hand
experience in dealing with the needs and interests of young people.
In his Berlin teaching work he saw how closely related are the
problems of education and of social life. Some of the fundamental
starting-points for an educational praxis suited to the needs of
children and young people today, Steiner set forth in a small work
titled Die Erziehung des Kindes vom Gesichtspunkte der
Geisteswssenshaft (The Education of the Child in the Light of the
Science of the Spirit), published in 1907.
Just forty years ago, in response to an invitation
arising from the need of the time and from some of the ideas
expressed in the essay mentioned above, Rudolf Steiner inaugurated a
system of education of children and young people based upon factors
inherent in the nature of the growing child, the learning process,
and the requirements of modern life. He himself outlined the
curriculum, selected the faculty, and, despite constant demands for
his assistance in many other directions, he carefully supervised the
initial years of activity of the first Rudolf Steiner Schools in
Germany, Switzerland and England. The story of the successful
development of the educational movement over the past forty years
cannot be told here. However, from the opening of the first Rudolf
Steiner School, the Waldorf School in Stuttgart, Germany, to the
present time, the success of Rudolf Steiner Education sometimes
referred to as Waldorf Education) has proven the correctness of
Steiner's concept of the way in which to prepare the child for his
eventual adult role in his contribution to modern society, existence
in seventeen countries of the world, including the United States,
Canada, Mexico, and South America.
In 1913, at Dornach near Basel, Switzerland,
Rudolf Steiner laid the foundation of the Goetheanum, a unique
building erected in consonance with his design and under his personal
supervision. Intended as the building in which Steiner's four dramas
would be performed, the Goetheanum also became the center of the
Anthroposophical Society which had been founded by students of Rudolf
Steiner in 1912. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1922,
and subsequently was replaced prepared by Rudolf Steiner.
Today the Goetheanum is the world headquarters of
General Anthroposophical Society, which was founded at Dornach at
Christmas, 1923, with Rudolf Steiner as President. Audiences of many
thousands come there each year to attend performances of Steiner's
dramas, of Goethe's Faust (Parts I and II in their entirety),
and of plays by other authors, presented on the Goetheanum stage, one
of the finest in Europe. Eurythmy performances, musical events,
conferences and lectures on many subjects, as well as courses of
study in various fields attract people to the Goetheanum from many
countries of the world, including the United States.
Among activities springing from the work of Rudolf
Steiner are Bio-Dynamic Farming and Gardening, which aims at improved
nutrition resulting from methods of agriculture outlined by him; the
art of Eurythmy, created and described by him as “visible
speech and visible song”; the work of the Clinical and
Therapeutical Institute at Arlesheim, Switzerland, with related
institutions in other countries, where for the past thirty years the
indications given by Rudolf Steiner in the fields of Medicine and
Pharmacology have been applied; the Homes for Children in need of
special care, which exist in many countries for the treatment of
mentally retarded children along lines developed under Steiner's
direction; the further development of Steiner's indications of new
directions of work in such fields as Mathematics, Physics, Painting,
Sculpture, Music Therapy, Drama, Speech Formation, Astronomy,
Economics, Psychology, and so on. Indeed, one cannot but wonder at
the breadth, the scope of the benefits which have resulted from the
work of this one man!
A full evaluation of what Rudolf Steiner
accomplished for the good of mankind in so many directions can come
about only when one comprehends the ideas which motivated him. He
expressed these in his writings, of which the present volume is one.
Taken together, these written works comprise the body of knowledge to
which Steiner gave the name, the science of the spirit, or
Anthroposophy. On page 249 of this book he writes of the benefits of
this science of the spirit:
“When correctly understood, the truths of
the science of the spirit will give man a true foundation for his
life, will let him recognize his value, his dignity, and his essence,
and will give him the highest zest for living. For these truths
enlighten him about his connection with the world around him; they
show him his highest goals, his true destiny. And they do this in a
way which corresponds to the demands of the present, so that he need
not remain caught in the contradiction between belief and
knowledge.”
Many of the thoughts expressed in this book may at
first appear startling, even fantastic in their implications. Yet
when the prospect of space travel, as well as modern developments in
technology, psychology, medicine and philosophy challenge our entire
understanding of life and the nature of the living, strangeness as
such should be no valid reason for the serious reader to turn away
from a book of this kind. For example, while the word
“occult” or “supersensible” may have
undesirable connotations for many, current developments are fast
bringing re-examination of knowledge previously shunned by
conventional research. The challenge of the atomic age has made
serious re-evaluation of all knowledge imperative, and it is
recognized that no single area of that knowledge can be left out of
consideration.
Steiner himself anticipated the reader's initial
difficulties with this book, as he indicates on page 112: “The
reader is requested to bear with much that is dark and difficult to
comprehend, and to struggle toward an understanding, just as the
writer has struggled toward a generally understandable manner of
presentation. Many a difficulty in reading will be rewarded when one
looks upon the deep mysteries, the important human enigmas which are
indicated.”
On the other hand, a further problem arises as a
result of Steiner's conviction regarding the purpose for which a book
dealing with the science of the spirit is designed. This involves the
form of the book as against its content. Steiner stressed
repeatedly that a book on the science of the spirit does not exist
only for the purpose of conveying information to the reader. With
painstaking effort, he elaborated his books in such a manner that
while the reader receives certain information from the pages, he also
experiences a kind of awakening of spiritual life within
himself. Steiner describes this awakening as “...an
experiencing with inner shocks, tensions and resolutions.” In
his autobiography he speaks of his striving to bring about such an
awakening in the readers of his books: “I know that with every
page my inner battle has been to reach the utmost possible in this
direction. In the matter of style, I do not so describe that my
subjective feelings can be detected in the sentences. In writing I
subdue to a dry mathematical style what has come out of warm and
profound feeling. But only such a style can be an awakener, for the
reader must cause warmth and feeling to awaken in himself. He cannot
simply allow these to flow into him from the one setting forth the
truth, while he remains passively composed.” (The Course of
My Life, p. 330)
In the present translation, therefore, careful
effort has been made to preserve as much as possible such external
form details as sentence and paragraph arrangement, italics, and even
some of the more characteristic punctuation of the original,
regardless of currently accepted English usage.
The essays contained in this book occupy a
significant place in the life-work of Rudolf Steiner. They are his
first written expression of a cosmology resulting from that spiritual
perception which he described as “a fully conscious
standing-within the spiritual world.” In his autobiography he
refers to the early years of the present century as the time when,
“Out of the experience of the spiritual world in general
developed specific details of knowledge.” (Op. cit. pp.
326, 328.) Steiner has stated that from his early childhood he knew
the reality of the spiritual world because he could experience this
spiritual world directly. However, only after nearly forty years was
it possible for him to transmit to others concrete, detailed
information regarding this spiritual world.
As they appear in the present essays, these
“specific details” touch upon processes and events of
extraordinary sweep and magnitude. They include essential elements of
man's prehistory and early history, and shed light upon the
evolutionary development of our earth. Published now for the first
time in America, just a century after Darwin's Origin of the
Species began its transformation of Man's view of himself and of
his environment, these essays clarify and complement the pioneer work
of the great English scientist.
Rudolf Steiner shows that the insoluble link
between man and cosmos is the fundamental basis of evolution. As man
has participated in the development of the world we know today, so
his achievements are directly connected with the ultimate destiny of
the universe. In his hands rests the freedom to shape the future
course of creation. Knowledge of his exalted origins and of the path
he followed in forfeiting divine direction for the attainment of his
present self-dependent freedom, are indispensable if man is to evolve
a future worthy of a responsible human being. This book appears now
because of its particular significance at a moment when imperative
and grave decisions are being made in the interests of the future of
mankind.
PAUL MARSHAL ALLEN
Englewood, New Jersey
June, 1959
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