Rudolf Steiner here illuminates the crucial
questions of freedom and necessity, guilt and innocence from
the perspective of his science of the spirit. He shows how
necessity, arising out of the unchangeable past, works in our
lives and in nature. “What was experienced at one time in
freedom changes over time into necessity” — just as
what was once subjective experience becomes over time an
objective element of our being. Steiner demonstrates that only
through acknowledging spiritual reality can we come to an
understanding of necessity and to the possibility of
conscious freedom in the present.
During the last two decades of the nineteenth
century the Austrian-born Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) became
a respected and well-published scientific, literary, and
philosophical scholar, particularly known for his work on
Goethe's scientific writings. After the turn of the century,
he began to develop his earlier philosophical principles into
an approach to methodical research of psychological and
spiritual phenomena.
His multi-faceted genius has led to
innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, science,
education (Waldorf schools), special education,
philosophy, religion, economics, agriculture (Bio-Dynamic
method), architecture, drama, the new art of eurythmy, and
other fields. In 1924 he founded the General
Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches
throughout the world.
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