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Rudolf Steiner e.Lib
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Necessity and Freedom
Rudolf Steiner e.Lib Document
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Necessity and Freedom
On-line since: 30th April, 2014
Necessity and Freedom
Rudolf Steiner e.Lib Document
Lectures Section
Rudolf Steiner illuminates the questions of freedom and necessity,
guilt and innocence. Into this theme Steiner weaves questions of
evolution, history, and culture, showing how and where human beings
carry responsibility for these developments.
By Rudolf Steiner
Translation by Pauline Wehrle
Bn/GA 166
Rudolf Steiner illuminates the questions of freedom and necessity,
guilt and innocence. Into this theme Steiner weaves questions of
evolution, history, and culture, showing how and where human beings
carry responsibility for these developments.
Steiner states that, whereas the human I is revealed in acts of
volition on the physical plane, ultimately we will find our true
I-being only through the Christ impulse and the completely free act
of the Mystery of Golgotha.
This volume,
Necessity and Freedom,
is published in German as,
Notwendigkeit und Freiheit im Weltengeschehen und im Menschlichen
Handeln,
(vol. 166 in the Bibliographic Survey).
The Graphic form on the cover of this book was created by Rudolf Steiner
in 1921. The title lettering is by Peter Stebbing.
This volume is presented here with the kind permission of the Rudolf
Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach, Switzerland.
Copyright © 1988
This e.Text edition is provided with the cooperation of:
The Anthroposophic Press
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Thanks to the kind donation of Henk de Laat, this Lecture Series has been made available.
| Cover Sheet |
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| Contents |
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| Publisher's Note |
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Lecture I: | The Past Shows Us a Picture of Necessity |
January 25, 1916 |
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The
past shows us a picture of necessity. The future leaves the
possibility open for freedom. Kant's antinomian chart.
Limitation of logic when we approach infinity. An example with
numbers. The Prague clock. Every external event has an
elemental one underlying it. What is true on the physical plane
often looks different on the spiritual plane. Beings are
active on the elemental plane. In the physical realm things
can be proved, whereas in the supersensible realm they are
perceived. Mystery of Golgotha a free deed. Haeckel and the war.
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Lecture II: | The Legend of the Prague Clock |
January 27, 1916 |
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The
legend of the Prague clock and the workings of Ahriman and
Lucifer. Law of cause and effect applies in the physical world.
Historical events must be judged according to their intrinsic
value. A condemnation of Goethe's Faust. Freedom and
necessity mingle in human actions. Nature once a free
deed of the gods. Past thoughts of the gods appear to us as
necessity. Our present life of thought will be the outer nature
of the future.
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Lecture III: | Three Teachers with Different Attitudes |
January 30, 1916 |
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Illustration of three teachers with different attitudes to
life, one is ahrimanic, another luciferic, and the third takes
the path of progressive development. We must get to know the
hidden forces behind ongoing events. Our actions can be
influenced by pre-birth experiences. Two things combine in
human beings, the stream of heredity and the spiritual part.
Learning from life strengthens us.
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Lecture IV: | The Roman World and the Teutonic Tribes |
February 01, 1916 |
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Conflict of the Roman world and Teutonic tribes as basis of
further historical development. Incursion of spiritual impulses
in historical events. Unsuccessful actions are also necessary.
Punishment as an enhancement of consciousness.
Faust as an evolutionary factor. Greatest freedom
involved in performing what is a necessity in world history.
Empty space in world processes for certain impulses.
Essential part of the will of angels is the intention. The
animal in us as the cause of crime. Spiritual science now
necessary, yet we can take it up in freedom. Right intentions
lead to right results.
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Lecture V: | The “I” is Found on the Physical Plane in Acts of Will |
February 08, 1916 |
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The
I is found on the physical plane in acts of will. In the
Middle Ages people still experienced auras. In the future the
world will look bleaker and the will, will have less strength.
Spiritual science will bring consciousness of the aura and a
strengthening of will. Human beings in the grip of dreaming and
ecstasy. Necessity of developing thinking and willing.
The true I found through the Christ impulse. We shall
then have memory of past lives.
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| Further Reading |
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| Back Cover |
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Last Modified: 23-Nov-2024
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