Western Philosophy 20th-century philosophy
Rudolf Steiner
Name	Rudolf Steiner
Birth	February 25, 1861 Murakirály, Austria-Hungary, now Donji Kraljevec Croatia
Death	March 30, 1925 (Dornach, Switzerland)
School/tradition	Phenomenology, Holism, Monism
Main interests	Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of science, Esotericism, Christianity, Theosophy, Freemasonry
Notable ideas	Anthroposophy, Anthroposophical Medicine, Biodynamic Agriculture, Eurythmy, Spiritual Science, Waldorf Education
Influenced by	Aristotle, Aquinas, Jacob Boehme, Franz Brentano, Meister Eckhart, Fichte, Hegel, Goethe, Nietzsche, Schiller
Influenced	Owen Barfield, Josef Beuys, Peter Deunov, Wassily Kandinsky, Albert Schweitzer, Richard Tarnas, Ken Wilber

Rudolf Steiner (born 25 February 1861, died 30 March 1925) was an Austrian philosopher, literary scholar, educator, artist, playwright, social thinker, and esotericist. See also [[Analytic philosophy]] and [[Continental philosophy]] The 20th century brought with it upheavals that produced a series of conflicting developments within Philosophy Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Donji Kraljevec is a municipality in Međimurje County, Croatia. Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Dornach is a municipality in the district of Dorneck in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Distinguish from the suffix -holism, which describes addictions Monism is the metaphysical and Theological view that all is one that all reality is subsumed under the most fundamental category of being or existence Metaphysics is the branch of Philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge Philosophy of science is the study of assumptions foundations and implications of Science. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings This article is about the philosophy introduced by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually Anthroposophical medicine is a Complementary medicine founded in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Dr Ita Wegman. Biodynamic agriculture, a method of Organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view ( Anthroposophy, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner) treats Eurythmy is an expressive movement art originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Marie von Sivers in the early 20th century Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually Waldorf education (also known as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education is a Pedagogy based upon the Educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Jakob Böhme (probably April 24 1575 &ndash November 17 1624) was a German Christian mystic and Theologian Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Brentano (January 16 1838 &ndash March 17 1917 was an influential German philosopher and psychologist whose influence Meister Eckhart OP (c 1260–c 1328 is the most common formula used to refer to Eckhart von Hochheim, a German theologian Johann Gottlieb Fichte ( May 19, 1762 – January 27, 1814) was a German philosopher ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15 1844 August 25 1900 ( was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller krɪstɔf friːtʁɪç fɔn ʃɪləʁ/ʃɪlɐ (10 November 1759 9 May 1805 was a German Poet, Philosopher Owen Barfield ( November 9, 1898 – December 14, 1997) was a British Philosopher, Author, poet and Critic. Joseph Beuys (ˈjoːzɛf ˈbɔʏs May 12, 1921 – January 23, Peter Konstantinov Deunov ( Bulgarian Петър Константинов Дънов, pronounced kɔnstantinɔv dɤnɔv was a spiritual master and founder of Wassily Kandinsky (Russian Василий Кандинский first name pronounced as) ( – 13 December 1944 was a Russian painter, Printmaker Albert Schweitzer, MD, OM, (January 14 1875 &ndash September 4 1965 was an Alsatian theologian, Musician, Philosopher Richard Tarnas (born February 21 1950) author of The Passion of the Western Mind (1991 and Cosmos and Psyche (2006 is a cultural historian Kenneth Earl "Ken" Wilber Jr (b January 31, 1949, Oklahoma City, U Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Austrians (Österreicher are a nation and an ethnic group originating from the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states ( March of Austria, ^[1][2][3] He was the founder of Anthroposophy, Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine,^[4] and the new artistic form of Eurythmy. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually Waldorf education (also known as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education is a Pedagogy based upon the Educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder Biodynamic agriculture, a method of Organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view ( Anthroposophy, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner) treats Anthroposophical medicine is a Complementary medicine founded in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Dr Ita Wegman. Eurythmy is an expressive movement art originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Marie von Sivers in the early 20th century

He characterized anthroposophy as follows:

“

Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge, to guide the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the universe…. Anthroposophists are those who experience, as an essential need of life, certain questions on the nature of the human being and the universe, just as one experiences hunger and thirst. [5]

”

Steiner advocated a form of ethical individualism, to which he later brought a more explicitly spiritual component. He derived his epistemology from Johann Wolfgang Goethe's world view, where “Thinking… is no more and no less an organ of perception than the eye or ear. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer Just as the eye perceives colours and the ear sounds, so thinking perceives ideas. ”^[6]

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Childhood and education 1.2 Writer and philosopher 1.3 Steiner and the Theosophical Society 1.4 Spiritual research 1.5 The Anthroposophical Society and its cultural activities 1.6 Attacks, illness and death 2 Philosophical development 2.1 Goethean science 2.2 Knowledge and freedom 2.3 Spiritual science 3 Breadth of activity 3.1 Education 3.2 Social activism 3.3 Architecture and sculpture 3.4 Performing arts 3.5 Anthroposophical medicine 3.6 Biodynamic farming & gardening 4 Steiner and Christianity 4.1 Christ and human evolution 4.2 Divergence from conventional Christian thought 4.3 The Christian Community 5 Reception of Steiner 6 Controversies 6.1 Race and ethnicity 6.2 Judaism 7 References 8 Bibliography 8.1 Steiner's writings 8.2 Steiner's lectures 8.2.1 General anthroposophy 8.2.2 Education and science 8.2.3 Religion 8.3 Works about Steiner by other authors 9 External links 9.1 General 9.2 Writings 9.3 Practical activities 9.4 Articles about Steiner 9.5 Further interest 9.6 Criticism

Biography

Childhood and education

Steiner's father, Johann, had left his position as huntsman in the service of Count Hoyos in Geras to marry (the Count had refused his permission). Geras is a town in Lower Austria in the district of Horn in Austria. He became a telegraph operator on the Southern Austrian Railway, at the time of Rudolf's birth stationed in Murakirály in the Muraköz region, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Donji Kraljevec, Međimurje region, northernmost Croatia). Međimurje ( Međimurska županija) is a Triangle -shaped County in the northernmost part of Croatia. Donji Kraljevec is a municipality in Međimurje County, Croatia. Međimurje ( Međimurska županija) is a Triangle -shaped County in the northernmost part of Croatia. Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between Steiner's mother's maternal name was Franziska Blie. In the first two years of his life the family moved twice, first to Mödling, near Vienna, and then, through the promotion of his father to stationmaster, to Pottschach, located in the foothills of the eastern Austrian Alps in present-day Burgenland. Mödling is the capital of the Austrian district of the same name located approximately 14 km south of Vienna. Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Burgenland ( Croatian Gradišće, Slovenian Gradiščansko, Hungarian Várvidék, Őrvidék or Felsőőrvidék ^[4]

From 1879 to 1883 Steiner attended and then graduated from the Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Vienna, where he studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy. Technische Hochschule (acronym TH) is what an Institute of Technology (i Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Physics (Greek Physis - φύσις in everyday terms is the Science of Matter and its motion. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language ^[7] In 1882, one of Steiner's teachers at the university in Vienna, Karl Julius Schröer, suggested Steiner's name to Professor Joseph Kürschner, editor of a new edition of Goethe's works. Steiner was then asked to become the edition's scientific editor. [3]

In his autobiography, Steiner related that at 21, on the train between his home village and Vienna, he met a simple herb gatherer, Felix Kogutski, who spoke about the spiritual world "as someone who had his own experiences of it. Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. . . . " This herb gatherer introduced Steiner to a person that Steiner only identified as a "master", and who had a great influence on Steiner's subsequent development, in particular directing him to study Fichte's philosophy. Johann Gottlieb Fichte ( May 19, 1762 – January 27, 1814) was a German philosopher ^[8]

In 1891 Steiner earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Rostock in Germany with a thesis based upon Fichte's concept of the ego,^[9] later published in expanded form as Truth and Knowledge. The University of Rostock (Universität Rostock is the University of the city Rostock, in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the " Psychic apparatus " defined in Sigmund Freud 's structural model of [4]

Writer and philosopher

In 1888, as a result of his work for the Kurschner edition of Goethe's works, Steiner was invited to work as an editor at the Goethe archives in Weimar. ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer Weimar (ˈvaɪmaʁ is a City in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia (Thüringen north of the Thüringer Wald, Steiner remained with the archive until 1896. As well as the introductions for and commentaries to four volumes of Goethe's scientific writings, Steiner wrote two books about Goethe's philosophy: The Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception (1886) and Goethe's Conception of the World (1897). During this time he also collaborated in complete editions of Arthur Schopenhauer's work and that of the writer Jean Paul and wrote articles for various journals. Jean Paul ( 21 March, 1763 &mdash 14 November, 1825) born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was a German Writer,

During his time at the archives, Steiner wrote what he considered his most important philosophical work, Die Philosophie der Freiheit (The Philosophy of Freedom) (1894), an exploration of epistemology and ethics that suggested a path upon which humans can become spiritually free beings (see below). The Philosophy of Freedom, the fundamental philosophical work of the Philosopher and Esotericist Rudolf Steiner, focuses on the concept of Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life

In 1896 Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche asked Steiner to set the Nietzsche archive in Naumburg in order. Therese Elisabeth Alexandra Förster-Nietzsche ( July 10, 1846 Röcken, Germany, - November 8, 1935 Weimar, Germany Naumburg (ˈnaʊ̯mbʊɐ̯k is a town in Germany, on the Saale River. Her brother by that time was no longer compos mentis. The term non compos mentis comes from Latin, non meaning "not" compos meaning "in control" and mentis Genitive Förster-Nietzsche introduced Steiner into the presence of the catatonic philosopher and Steiner, deeply moved, subsequently wrote the book Friedrich Nietzsche, Fighter for Freedom. Of Nietzsche, Steiner says in his autobiography, "Nietzsche's ideas of the 'eternal repetition' and of 'supermen' remained long in my mind. For in these was reflected that which a personality must feel concerning the evolution and essential being of humanity when this personality is kept back from grasping the spiritual world by the restricted thought in the philosophy of nature characterizing the end of the nineteenth century. "^[10] "What attracted me particularly was that one could read Nietzsche without coming upon anything which strove to make the reader a 'dependent' of Nietzsche's'. "^[10].

In 1897, Steiner left the Weimar archives and moved to Berlin. Weimar (ˈvaɪmaʁ is a City in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia (Thüringen north of the Thüringer Wald, Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. He became owner, chief editor, and active contributor to the literary journal Magazin für Literatur, where he hoped to find a readership sympathetic to his philosophy. His work in the magazine was not well received by its readership, including the alienation of subscribers following Steiner's unpopular support of Émile Zola in the Dreyfus Affair. Émile François Zola ( (2 April 1840 &ndash 29 September 1902 was an influential French Writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of The Dreyfus Affair a Political scandal which divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s ^[11] The Magazin für Literatur lost more subscribers after Steiner's close friendship with anarchist writer John Henry Mackay was revealed when Steiner published extracts from their correspondence. Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i John Henry Mackay (1864 &ndash May 16, 1933) was an Individualist anarchist, thinker and writer ^[12][11] Dissatisfaction with his editorial style eventually led to his departure from the magazine.

In 1899, Steiner married Anna Eunicke. They were later separated; Anna died in 1911.

Steiner and the Theosophical Society

Main article: Rudolf Steiner and the Theosophical Society

A turning point came in 1899, when Steiner decided to publish an article in the Magazin für Literatur, titled "Goethe's Secret Revelation", on the esoteric nature of Goethe's fairy tale, The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily. The relationship between Rudolf Steiner and the Theosophical Society founded by H The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily is a Fairy tale by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published in 1795 in Friedrich Schiller 's German This article led to an invitation by the Count and Countess Brockdorff to speak to a gathering of Theosophists on the subject of Nietzsche. This article is about the philosophy introduced by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky Steiner continued speaking regularly to the members of the Theosophical Society, becoming the head of its newly constituted German section in 1902, though without ever joining the society. The Theosophy Society - Adyar is the main remnant of the original Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. ^[9] It was within this society that Steiner met and worked with Marie von Sievers, who eventually became his second wife (1914).

By 1904, Steiner was appointed by Annie Besant to be leader of the Esoteric Society for Germany and Austria. Annie Wood Besant (ˈbɛsənt Clapham London October 1 1847 &ndash September 20 1933 in Adyar, India) was a prominent Theosophist, The German Section of the Theosophical Society grew rapidly under Steiner's leadership as he lectured throughout much of Europe on his spiritual science. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually During this period Steiner maintained an original approach, replacing Madame Blavatsky's terminology with his own, and basing his spiritual research and teachings upon the Western esoteric and philosophical tradition. Elena Petrovna Gan (Елена Петровна Ган also Hélène, Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine, Russian Empire — May 8 1891 London) better This and other differences, in particular the pronouncement by C. W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant that Jiddu Krishnamurti was the vehicle of a new world teacher, and the reincarnation of Christ, claims Steiner publicly rejected, led to a formal split in 1912. CW Leadbeater ( Feb 16, 1854 Stockport, Cheshire, England - March 1, 1934 Perth, Western Annie Wood Besant (ˈbɛsənt Clapham London October 1 1847 &ndash September 20 1933 in Adyar, India) was a prominent Theosophist, Jiddu Krishnamurti ( Telugu: జిడ్డు కృష్ణ మూర్తి or J ^[9]

Spiritual research

From his decision to "go public" in 1899 until his death in 1925, Steiner articulated an ongoing stream of experiences of the spiritual world — experiences he said had touched him from an early age on. ^[11] Steiner aimed to apply his training in mathematics, science, and philosophy to produce rigorous, verifiable presentations of those experiences. Mathematics is the body of Knowledge and Academic discipline that studies such concepts as Quantity, Structure, Space and Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language ^[13]

Steiner believed that through freely chosen ethical disciplines and meditative training, anyone could develop the ability to experience the spiritual world, including the higher nature of oneself and others. Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness The English word " spirit " comes from the Latin " spiritus " (breath ^[11] Steiner believed that such discipline and training would help a person to become a more moral, creative and free individual - free in the sense of being capable of actions motivated solely by love. In its most general sense discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a Disciple. Morality (from the Latin la moralitas "manner character proper behavior" has three principal meanings Creativity is a mental process involving the generation of new Ideas or Concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between existing ideas or concepts Freedom, or the idea of being free is a broad concept that As commonly used, individual refers to a Person or to any specific object in a collection Love is any of a number of Emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong Affection. ^[14]

Steiner's ideas about the inner life were influenced by Franz Brentano^[11] - with whom he had studied - and Wilhelm Dilthey, founders of the phenomenological movement in European philosophy. Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Brentano (January 16 1838 &ndash March 17 1917 was an influential German philosopher and psychologist whose influence Wilhelm Dilthey (ˈdɪltaɪ November 19, 1833 &ndash October 1, 1911) was a German Historian, Psychologist Steiner was also influenced by Goethe's phenomenological approach to science. The term phenomenology in Science is used to describe a body of knowledge which relates several different empirical observations of phenomena to each other ^[11][15][16]

Steiner's collected works include about 40 volumes of his writings and more than 300 volumes of lectures. His most notable writings include:

• Philosophy of Freedom (1893) (also translated as Philosophy of Spiritual Activity): his chief philosophical work; see above.
• Theosophy: An Introduction (1904), in which he sets forth his ideas of the body-soul-spirit constitution of the human being, reincarnation, and the unity of the spiritual and sense-perceptible ("as two sides of a single coin").
• Knowledge of Higher Worlds (1904/5), in which he describes his conception of a path of spiritual development, detailing many principles of life (openness, positivity, respect for others), spiritual exercises (control of thought and will, directed imaginations) and experiences likely to arise on this path (trials and spiritual perceptions).
• An Outline of Esoteric Science (1910), in which he describes a vast panorama of cosmic evolution, the spiritual hierarchies that guide this evolution, and the path of spiritual development that leads to such perceptions.

Steiner led the following esoteric schools:

• His independent Esoteric School of the Theosophical Society, founded in 1904. This school continued after the break with Theosophy (see below) and eventually led into the
• A lodge called Mystica Aeterna within the Masonic Order of Memphis and Mizraim, which Steiner led from 1906 until around 1914. This article is about the philosophy introduced by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky Steiner added to the Masonic rite a number of Rosicrucian references. ^[17] The figure of Christian Rosenkreutz also plays an important role in several of his later lectures. Christian Rosenkreuz, English Christian Rose Cross, is the legendary founder of the Rosicrucian Order (Order of the Rose Cross) presented in
• The School of Spiritual Science of the Anthroposophical Society, founded in 1923. This was intended to have three "classes", but Steiner only developed the first one of these. Unlike most esoteric schools, all of the texts relating to the "School of Spiritual Science" have been published (in the full edition of Steiner's works).

The Anthroposophical Society and its cultural activities

The Anthroposophical Society grew rapidly. Fueled by a need to find a home for their yearly conferences, which included performances of plays written by Eduard Schuré as well as Steiner himself, the decision was made to build a theater and organizational center. In 1913, construction began on the first Goetheanum building, in Dornach, Switzerland. The Goetheanum, located in Dornach (near Basel) Switzerland, is the world center for the anthroposophical movement Dornach is a municipality in the district of Dorneck in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The building, designed by Steiner, was built to significant part by volunteers who offered craftsmanship or simply a will to learn new skills. Once World War I started in 1914, the Goetheanum volunteers could hear the sound of cannon fire beyond the Swiss border, but despite the war, people from all over Europe worked peaceably side by side on the building's construction. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All In 1919, the Goetheanum staged the world premiere of a complete production of Goethe's Faust. ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfgaŋ fɔn ˈgøːtə (in English generally ˈgɝːtə 28 August 1749 22 March 1832 was a German writer Faust or Faustus ( Latin for "auspicious" or "lucky" is the protagonist of a classic German Legend in which he makes In this same year, the first Waldorf school was founded in Stuttgart, Germany. Waldorf education (also known as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education is a Pedagogy based upon the Educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder Stuttgart (ˈʃtʊtgaɐ̯t is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.

Beginning in 1919, Steiner was called upon to assist with numerous practical activities (see below). His lecture activity expanded enormously. At the same time, the Goetheanum developed as a wide-ranging cultural centre. On New Year's Eve, 1922/1923, it was burned down by arson; only his massive sculpture depicting the spiritual forces active in the world and the human being, the Representative of Humanity, was saved. Steiner immediately began work designing a second Goetheanum building – made of concrete instead of wood – which was completed in 1928, three years after his death. The Goetheanum, located in Dornach (near Basel) Switzerland, is the world center for the anthroposophical movement

During the Anthroposophical Society's Christmas conference in 1923, Steiner founded the School of Spiritual Science, intended as an open university for research and study. The General Anthroposophical Society is an organization dedicated to supporting the community of those interested in the form of Spirituality known as Anthroposophy This university, which has various sections or faculties, has grown steadily; it is particularly active today in the fields of education, medicine, agriculture, art, natural science, literature, philosophy, sociology and economics. Waldorf education (also known as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education is a Pedagogy based upon the Educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder Anthroposophical medicine is a Complementary medicine founded in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Dr Ita Wegman. Biodynamic agriculture, a method of Organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view ( Anthroposophy, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner) treats Steiner spoke of laying the foundation stone of the new society in the hearts of his listeners, while the First Goetheanum's foundation stone had been laid in the earth. He gave a Foundation Stone meditation to anchor this.

Attacks, illness and death

The arson had a context. Threats had been made publicly against the Goetheanum ^[18], and against Steiner himself^[19] by right-wing nationalists.

Reacting to the catastrophic situation in post-war Germany, Steiner had gone on extensive lecture tours promoting his social ideas of the Threefold Social Order, entailing a fundamentally different political structure; he suggested that only through independence of the cultural, political and economic realms could such catastrophes as the World War be avoided. Social Threefolding is a social movement which aims to reform society by increasing the independence of society's three realms ( Economy, Polity and Culture He also promoted a radical solution in the disputed area of Upper Silesia - claimed by both Poland and Germany -; his suggestion that this area be granted at least provisional independence led to his being publicly accused of being a traitor to Germany. Upper Silesia (Horní Slezsko Oberschlesien Latin: Silesia Superior; Górny Śląsk Silesian: Gůrny Ślůnsk) is the southeastern part Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. ^[20]

In 1919, the political theorist of the National Socialist movement in Germany, Dietrich Eckart, attacked Steiner and suggested that he was a Jew. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Dietrich Eckart ( 23 March 1868 - 26 December 1923) was a German politician one of the important early members of the National Socialist ^[21] In 1921, Adolf Hitler attacked Steiner in an article in the right-wing "Völkischen Beobachter" newspaper, including accusations that Steiner was a tool of the Jews,^[22] and other nationalist extremists in Germany were calling up a "war against Steiner". Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The 1923 Beer Hall Putsch in Munich led Steiner to give up his residence in Berlin, saying that if those responsible for the attempted coup [Hitler and others] came to power in Germany, it would no longer be possible for him to enter the country; ^[23] he also warned against the disastrous effects it would have for Central Europe if the National Socialists came to power. The Beer Hall Putsch (also known as the Munich Putsch) was a failed Coup d'état that occurred between the evening of Thursday November 8 ^[24]

The loss of the Goetheanum affected Steiner's health seriously. From 1923 on, he showed signs of increasing frailness and illness. He continued to lecture widely, and even to travel; especially towards the end of this time, he was often giving two, three or even four lectures daily for courses taking place concurrently. On the one hand, many of these were for practical areas of life: education, curative eurythmy, speech and drama. On the other hand, Steiner began a new, extensive series of lectures presenting his research on the successive lives of various individuals, and on the technique of karma research generally. ^[25]

By autumn, 1924, however, he was too weak to continue; his last lecture was held in September of that year. He died on March 30, 1925.

Philosophical development

Goethean science

In his commentaries on Goethe's scientific works, written between 1884-97, Steiner presented Goethe's approach to science as essentially phenomenological in nature, rather than theory- or model-based. He developed this conception further in several books, The Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception (1886) and Goethe's Conception of the World (1897), particularly emphasizing the transformation in Goethe's approach from the physical sciences, where experiment played the primary role, to plant biology, where imagination was required to find the biological archetypes (Urpflanze), and postulated that Goethe had sought but been unable to fully find the further transformation in scientific thinking necessary to properly interpret and understand the animal kingdom. ^[26]

Steiner defended Goethe's qualitative description of color as arising synthetically from the polarity of light and darkness, in contrast to Newton's particle-based and analytic conception. Sir Isaac Newton, FRS (ˈnjuːtən 4 January 1643 31 March 1727) Biography Early years See also Isaac Newton's early life and achievements He emphasized the role of evolutionary thinking in Goethe's discovery of the intermaxillary bone in human beings; Goethe expected human anatomy to be an evolutionary transformation of animal anatomy. ^[26]

Knowledge and freedom

Steiner approached the philosophical questions of knowledge and freedom in two stages. Epistemology (from Greek επιστήμη - episteme, "knowledge" + λόγος, " Logos " or theory of knowledge Freedom, or the idea of being free is a broad concept that The first was his dissertation, published in expanded form in 1892 as Truth and Knowledge. Here Steiner suggests that there is an inconsistency between Kant's philosophy, which postulated that the essential verity of the world was inaccessible to human consciousness, and modern science, which assumes that all influences can be found in what Steiner termed the "sinnlichen und geistlichen" (sensory and mental/spiritual) world to which we have access. Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Steiner terms Kant's "Jenseits-Philosophie" (philosophy of an inaccessible beyond) a stumbling block in achieving a satisfying philosophical viewpoint. ^[27]

Steiner postulates that the world is essentially an indivisible unity, but that our consciousness divides it into the sense-perceptible appearance, on the one hand, and the formal nature accessible to our thinking, on the other. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the Senses are the physiological methods of Perception. The senses and their operation classification and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields Thought and thinking are mental forms and Processes respectively ("thought" is both He sees in thinking itself an element that can be strengthened and deepened sufficiently to penetrate all that our senses do not reveal to us. Steiner thus explicitly denies all justification to a division between faith and knowledge; otherwise expressed, between the spiritual and natural worlds. Faith is a Belief in the trustworthiness of an Idea. Formal usage of the word "faith" is usually reserved for concepts of Religion, as in Knowledge is defined ( Oxford English Dictionary) variously as (i expertise and skills acquired by a person through experience or education the theoretical or practical understanding Their apparent duality is conditioned by the structure of our consciousness, which separates perception and thinking, but these two faculties give us two complementary views of the same world; neither has primacy and the two together are necessary and sufficient to arrive at a complete understanding of the world. In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. Thought and thinking are mental forms and Processes respectively ("thought" is both In thinking about perception (the path of natural science) and perceiving the process of thinking (the path of spiritual training), it is possible to discover a hidden inner unity between the two poles of our experience. In Psychology and the Cognitive sciences perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory Information. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Spirituality, in a narrow sense concerns itself with matters of the Spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and Faith, a transcendent reality ^[14]

Truth, for Steiner, is paradoxically both an objective discovery and yet:

"a free creation of the human spirit, that never would exist at all if we did not generate it ourselves. The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality The task of understanding is not to replicate in conceptual form something that already exists, but rather to create a wholly new realm, that together with the world given to our senses constitutes the fullness of reality. "^[28]

A new stage of Steiner's philosophical development is expressed in his Philosophy of Freedom. The Philosophy of Freedom, the fundamental philosophical work of the Philosopher and Esotericist Rudolf Steiner, focuses on the concept of Here, he further explores potentials within thinking: freedom, he suggests, can only be approached asymptotically and with the aid of the "creative activity" of thinking. An asymptote of a real-valued function y=f(x is a curve which describes the behavior of f as either x or y goes to infinity Thinking can be a free deed; in addition, it can liberate our will from its subservience to our instincts and drives. Instinct is the inherent disposition of a living Organism toward a particular Behavior. Motivation is the reason or reasons for engaging in a particular behavior especially Human behavior as studied in Philosophy, Conflict, Economics Free deeds, he suggests, are those for which we are fully conscious of the motive for our action; freedom is the spiritual activity of penetrating with consciousness our own nature and that of the world,^[29] and the real activity of acting in full consciousness. ^[14] (See the main article on the book Philosophy of Freedom for a fuller exposition. The Philosophy of Freedom, the fundamental philosophical work of the Philosopher and Esotericist Rudolf Steiner, focuses on the concept of ) This includes overcoming influences of both heredity and environment: "To be free is to be capable of thinking one's own thoughts - not the thoughts merely of the body, or of society, but thoughts generated by one's deepest, most original, most essential and spiritual self, one's individuality. "^[9]

Steiner affirms Darwin's and Haeckel's evolutionary perspectives but extends this beyond its materialistic consequences; he sees human consciousness, indeed, all human culture, as a product of natural evolution that transcends itself. Charles Robert Darwin (February 12 1809 &ndash April 19 1882 was an English naturalist, who realised and demonstrated that all Species of life Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel ( February 16, 1834 — August 9, 1919)also written von Haeckel, was an eminent German eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 The Philosophy of materialism holds that the only thing that can be truly proven to exist is Matter, and is considered a form of Physicalism. Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic For Steiner, nature becomes self-conscious in the human being. Steiner's description of the nature of human consciousness thus closely parallels that of Solovyov:^[30]

In human beings, the absolute subject-object appears as such, i. Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov (Владимир Сергеевич Соловьёв (1853 - 1900 was a Russian philosopher, poet pamphleteer literary critic e. as pure spiritual activity, containing all of its own objectivity, the whole process of its natural manifestation, but containing it totally ideally - in consciousness. . . . The subject knows here only its own activity as an objective activity (sub specie object). Thus, the original identity of subject and object is restored in philosophical knowledge. ^[31]

Spiritual science

Main article: Anthroposophy

See also: Rudolf Steiner's exercises for spiritual development

In his earliest works, Steiner already spoke of the "natural and spiritual worlds" as a unity. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually See also Rudolf Steiner Anthroposophy Rudolf Steiner developed exercises aimed at cultivating new Cognitive faculties he believed would be appropriate to ^[11] From 1900 on, he began lecturing about concrete details of the spiritual world(s), culminating in the publication in 1904 of the first of several systematic presentations, his Theosophy: An Introduction to the Spiritual Processes in Human Life and in the Cosmos, followed by How to Know Higher Worlds (1904/5), Cosmic Memory (a collection of articles written between 1904 and 1908), and An Outline of Esoteric Science (1910). Important themes include:

• the human being as body, soul and spirit;
• the path of spiritual development;
• spiritual influences on world-evolution and history; and
• reincarnation and karma, which he considered to be his own central theme. The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living The English word " spirit " comes from the Latin " spiritus " (breath Karma ( Sanskrit: कर्म, kárman - "act action performance" Pali: kamma) is the concept of "action"

Steiner emphasized that there is an objective natural and spiritual world that can be known, and that perceptions of the spiritual world and incorporeal beings are, under conditions of training comparable to that required for the natural sciences, but including extraordinary self-discipline, replicable by multiple observers. It is on this basis that spiritual science is possible, with radically different epistemological foundations than those of natural science. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually

For Steiner, the cosmos is permeated and continually transformed by the creative activity of non-physical processes and spiritual beings. For the human being to become conscious of the objective reality of these processes and beings, it is necessary to creatively enact and reenact, within, their creative activity. Thus objective knowledge always entails creative inner activity. ^[11] Steiner articulated three stages of any creative deed:^[14]

• Moral intuition: the ability to discover ethical principles appropriate to the circumstances at hand: situational ethics
• Moral imagination: the imaginative transformation of an ethical principle into a concrete intention for the future evolution of the particular situation
• Moral technique: the realization of the intended transformation, depending on a mastery of practical skills. Situational ethics, or situation ethics, is a Christian ethical theory that was principally developed in the 1960s by the Episcopal priest Joseph Fletcher

Steiner termed his work from this period on Anthroposophy. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually He emphasized that the spiritual path he represented builds upon and supports individual freedom and independent judgment, whereby for the results of spiritual research to be appropriately presented in a modern context they must be in a form accessible to logical understanding, so that those who do not have access to the spiritual experiences underlying anthroposophical research can make independent evaluations of the latter's results. In non-legal contexts a judgment is a balanced weighing up of evidence preparatory to making a decision Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. ^[14] Steiner considered the purpose of human evolution to be the development of the mutually interdependent qualities of love and freedom. Love is any of a number of Emotions and experiences related to a sense of strong Affection. ^[9]

Breadth of activity

Steiner had a wide breadth of activities. He founded the Waldorf education school movement,^[32] and the Biodynamic agriculture he founded has contributed significantly to the modern organic farming movement. Waldorf education (also known as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education is a Pedagogy based upon the Educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder Biodynamic agriculture, a method of Organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view ( Anthroposophy, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner) treats Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies on Crop rotation, Green manure, Compost, Biological pest control, and mechanical Cultivation ^[33] Anthroposophic medicine has created a broad range of anthroposophical medicines; in addition, a wide range of supportive therapies — both artistic and biographical — have arisen out of Steiner's work. Anthroposophical medicine is a Complementary medicine founded in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Dr Ita Wegman. ^[34] The homes for the handicapped based on his work (the Camphill movement) are widely spread. The Camphill Movement is an international nexus of therapeutic intentional communities serving those with singular needs or disabilities ^[35] His paintings and drawings have been exhibited in museums and galleries, and the list of people influenced by him includes Joseph Beuys and other significant modern artists. Joseph Beuys (ˈjoːzɛf ˈbɔʏs May 12, 1921 – January 23, His two Goetheanum buildings are generally accepted to be masterpieces of modern architecture,^[36] and other anthroposophical architects have contributed thousands of buildings to the modern scene. This article is concerned with architectural aspects of Modernism; for the most recent developments in architecture see Contemporary architecture. One of first institutions to practice ethical banking was an anthroposophical bank working out of Steiner's ideas. An ethical bank, also known as social, alternative, civic or sustainable bank, is a Bank concerned about the social use of its The GLS Bank (full name GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eG is a German bank that was founded in 1974 as an anthroposophical initiative

Steiner's literary estate is correspondingly broad. Steiner's writings are published in about forty volumes, including books, essays, plays ('mystery dramas'), mantric verse and an autobiography. An autobiography, from the Greek αὐτός autos "self" βίος bios "life" and γράφειν graphein "to write" His collected lectures make up another approximately 300 volumes, and nearly every imaginable theme is covered somewhere here. (Much of Steiner's work is available on-line at the Rudolf Steiner archive, and Steiner's complete works are searchable at the German language archive). Steiner's drawings are collected in a separate series of 28 volumes. Many publications have covered his architectural legacy and sculptural work.

Education

As a young man, Steiner already supported the independence of educational institutions from governmental control. In 1907, he wrote a long essay, entitled "Education in the Light of Spiritual Science", in which he described the major phases of child development and suggested that these would be the basis of a healthy approach to education.

In 1919, Emil Molt invited him to lecture on the topic of education to the workers at Molt's factory in Stuttgart. Emil Molt (born 14 April 1876 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Baden-Württemberg, died 16 June 1936 in Stuttgart) was Out of this came a new school, the Waldorf school, and Waldorf education — sometimes known as Steiner Education. Waldorf education (also known as Steiner or Steiner-Waldorf education is a Pedagogy based upon the Educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder During Steiner's lifetime, schools based on his educational principles were also founded in Hamburg, Essen, The Hague and London. Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany Essen (ˈɛsən is a City in the center of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. There are now more than 1000 independent Waldorf schools world-wide.

Social activism

For a period after World War I, Steiner was extremely active as a lecturer on social questions. A petition expressing his basic social ideas (signed by Herman Hesse, among others) was very widely circulated. Hermann Hesse (ˈhɛʀman ˈhɛsə ( 2 July, 1877 — 9 August, 1962) was a German - Swiss poet novelist and painter His main book on social questions, Toward Social Renewal, sold tens of thousands of copies. Today around the world there are a number of innovative banks, companies, charitable institutions, and schools for developing new cooperative forms of business, all working partly out of Steiner’s social ideas. One example is The Rudolf Steiner Foundation (RSF), incorporated in 1984, and as of 2004 with estimated assets of $70 million. RSF provides "charitable innovative financial services". According to the independent organizations Co-op America and the Social Investment Forum Foundation, RSF is "one of the top 10 best organizations exemplifying the building of economic opportunity and hope for individuals through community investing. " ^[37]

Steiner suggested that the cultural, political and economic spheres of society needed to be sufficiently independent of one another to be able to mutually correct each other in an ongoing way. He suggested that human society had been moving slowly, over thousands of years, toward articulation of society into three independent yet mutually corrective realms, and that a Threefold Social Order was not some utopia that could be implemented in a day or even a century. Social Threefolding is a social movement which aims to reform society by increasing the independence of society's three realms ( Economy, Polity and Culture It was a gradual process that he expected would continue to develop for thousands of years. Nevertheless, he gave many specific suggestions for social reforms that he thought would increase the threefold articulation of society. He believed in equality of human rights for political life, liberty in cultural life, and voluntary, uncoerced fraternal cooperation in economic life. Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled Liberty, the freedom to act or believe without being stopped by unnecessary force ^[38]

Architecture and sculpture

Steiner designed 17 buildings, including the First and Second Goetheanums. The Goetheanum, located in Dornach (near Basel) Switzerland, is the world center for the anthroposophical movement These two buildings, built in Dornach, Switzerland, were intended to house a University for Spiritual Science. Three of Steiner's buildings, including both Goetheanum buildings, have been listed amongst the most significant works of modern architecture. ^[39]

As a sculptor, his works include The Representative of Humanity (1922). This nine-meter high wood sculpture was a joint project with the sculptor Edith Maryon; it is on permanent display at the Goetheanum in Dornach.

Performing arts

Together with Marie Steiner-von Sievers, Rudolf Steiner developed the art of Eurythmy, sometimes referred to as "visible speech and visible song". Marie Steiner-von Sivers (born Marie von Sivers - or Sievers - 14 March 1867 &ndash 27 December 1948) was the second wife of Rudolf Eurythmy is an expressive movement art originated by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Marie von Sivers in the early 20th century According to the principles of Eurythmy, there are archetypal movements or gestures that correspond to every aspect of speech - the sounds, or phonemes, the rhythms, the grammatical function, and so on - to every "soul quality" - laughing, despair, intimacy, etc. The phoneME project is Sun Microsystems reference implementation of Java virtual machine and associated libraries of Java ME with source licensed under the GNU - and to every aspect of music - tones, intervals, rhythms, harmonies, etc.

As a playwright, Steiner wrote four "Mystery Dramas" between 1909 and 1913, including The Portal of Initiation and The Soul's Awakening. They are still performed today by Anthroposophical groups.

Steiner also founded a new approach to artistic speech and drama; see his Speech and Drama Course. Various ensembles work with this approach, called "speech formation" (Ger. :Sprachgestaltung), and trainings exist in various countries, including England, the United States, Switzerland, and Germany; see a list of trainings. The actor Michael Chekhov extended this approach in what is now known as the Chekhov method ^[40]

Anthroposophical medicine

Main article: Anthroposophical medicine

From the late 1910s, Steiner was working with doctors to create a new approach to medicine. Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (Russian Михаил Александрович Чехов August 29 1891 in Moscow &ndash September 30 Anthroposophical medicine is a Complementary medicine founded in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner in conjunction with Dr Ita Wegman. In 1921, pharmacists and physicians gathered under Steiner's guidance to create a pharmaceutical company called Weleda, which now distributes natural medical products worldwide. Pharmacists are Health professionals who practice the art and science of Pharmacy. A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health At around the same time, Dr. Ita Wegman founded a first anthroposophic medical clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland (now called the Wegman Clinic). Ita Wegman, MD (born February 22, 1876 in Kravang, West Java; died March 4, 1943 in Arlesheim Switzerland

Steiner's descriptions of certain bodily organs and their functions sometimes differ significantly from those found in medical textbooks. In Biology, an organ ( Latin: organum, "instrument tool" from Greek όργανον - organon "organ instrument He stated, for example, that the heart is not a mechanical pump but a dynamic regulator of circulatory flow,^[41] a view that has been confirmed by recent medical research. The heart is a muscular organ in all Vertebrates responsible for pumping Blood through the Blood vessels by repeated rhythmic ^[42]

Biodynamic farming & gardening

Biodynamic agriculture, or biodynamics, comprises an ecological and sustainable farming system, that includes many of the ideas of organic farming (but predates the term). Biodynamic agriculture, a method of Organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view ( Anthroposophy, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner) treats In 1924, a group of farmers concerned about the future of agriculture requested Steiner's help; Steiner responded with a lecture series on agriculture. This was the origin of biodynamic agriculture, which is now practiced throughout much of Europe, North America, and Australasia. ^[43] A central concept of these lectures was to "individualize" the farm by bringing no or few outside materials onto the farm, but producing all needed materials such as manure and animal feed from within what he called the "farm organism". Manure is Organic matter used as Organic fertilizer in Agriculture. Other aspects of biodynamic farming inspired by Steiner's lectures include timing activities such as planting in relation to the movement patterns of the moon and planets and applying "preparations", which consist of natural materials which have been processed in specific ways, to soil, compost piles, and plants with the intention of engaging non-physical beings and elemental forces. A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is Soil, often typeset as SOiL, is a four piece rock band from Chicago Illinois United States founded by Shaun Glass Tom Schofield Tim King and Adam Zadel Composting is the Aerobic decomposition of Biodegradable Organic matter, producing Compost. Steiner, in his lectures, encouraged his listeners to verify his suggestions scientifically, as he had not yet done. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena

The early decades of the twentieth-century agriculture started using inorganic fertilizers such as nitrogen "condensed" from the air and subsequently applied to the fields. Steiner believed that the introduction of this chemical farming was a very detrimental. Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of Livestock, Poultry, Fish, and Stating "Mineral manuring is a thing that must cease altogether in time, for the effect of every kind of mineral manure, after a time, is that the products grown on the fields thus treated lose their nutritive value. It is an absolutely general law. " ^[44] Steiner was convinced that the quality of food in his time had degraded, and he believed the source of the problem was chemical farming's use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides, however he did not believe this was only because of the chemical or biological properties relating to the substances involved, but also due to spiritual shortcomings in the whole chemical approach to farming. Industrial agriculture is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of Livestock, Poultry, Fish, and Fertilizers ( also spelt fertiliser are chemical compounds given to Plants to promote growth they are usually applied either through the soil for uptake by plant A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest. Steiner considered the world and everything in it as simultaneously spiritual and material in nature, an approach termed monism. Monism is the metaphysical and Theological view that all is one that all reality is subsumed under the most fundamental category of being or existence He also believed that living matter was different from dead matter. In other words, Steiner believed synthetic nutrients were not the same as their more living counterparts. ^[45]

The name "biologically dynamic" or "biodynamic" was coined by Steiner's adherents. A central aspect of biodynamics is that the farm as a whole is seen as an organism, and therefore should be a closed self-nourishing system, which the preparations nourish. Disease of organisms is not to be tackled in isolation but is a symptom of problems in the whole organism.

Although the number of biodynamic farms in the world is relatively small, as of 2006 about one quarter of the farms in India have adopted biodynamic practices. ^[46]

Steiner and Christianity

In 1899 Steiner experienced what he described as a life-transforming inner encounter with the being of Christ; previously he had little or no relation to Christianity in any form. Christ is the English term for the Greek ( Khristós) meaning "the anointed " Then and thereafter, his relationship to Christianity remained entirely founded upon personal experience, and thus both non-denominational and strikingly different from conventional religious forms. ^[9]

Christ and human evolution

Steiner describes Christ's being and mission on earth as having a central place in human evolution:^[47]

The being of Christ is central to all religions, though called by different names by each.

Every religion is valid and true for the time and cultural context in which it was born.

Historical forms of Christianity need to be transformed considerably in our times in order to meet the on-going evolution of humanity.

It is the being that unifies all religions — and not a particular religious faith — that Steiner saw as the central force in human evolution. He understood Christ's incarnation as a historical reality, and a pivotal point in human history, however. The "Christ Being" is for Steiner not only the Redeemer of the Fall from Paradise, but also the unique pivot and meaning of earth's "evolutionary" processes and of all human history. The Fall of Man, or simply the Fall, in Christian doctrine refers to the transition of the first humans from a state of innocent obedience to God, Paradise is a word of Persian origin ( Persian: پردیس Pardìs) that is generally identified with the Garden of Eden or with Heaven. ^[47] The essence of being "Christian" is, for Steiner, a search for balance between polarizing extremes^[48] and the ability to manifest love in freedom. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth ^[9]

Divergence from conventional Christian thought

Steiner's views of Christianity diverge from conventional Christian thought in key places, and include gnostic elements. ^[49] One of the central points of divergence is found in Steiner's views on reincarnation and karma. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually

Steiner also posited two different Jesus children involved in the Incarnation of the Christ: one child descended from Solomon, as described in the Gospel of Matthew; the other child from Nathan, as described in the Gospel of Luke. King Solomon ( Ge'ez: ስለሞን Arabic: ar سليمان, Sulayman, all from the Triliteral root S-L-M, "peace" The Gospel of Matthew (Gk Κατά Ματθαίον Ευαγγέλιον is one of the four Canonical gospels in the New Testament and is a Synoptic gospel Nathan was the son of King David and Bathsheba, the older brother of Solomon. The Gospel of Luke (Gk Κατά Λουκάν Ευαγγέλιον) is a synoptic Gospel, and is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the ^[38] (The genealogies given in the two gospels diverge some thirty generations before Jesus' birth. Genealogy (from Greek: el γενεά el-Latn genea, "descent" and el λόγος el-Latn logos, "knowledge" is the study of )

Steiner's view of the second coming of Christ is also unusual. In Christianity, the Second Coming is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven to earth an event that will fulfill aspects of Messianic He suggested that this would not be a physical reappearance, but rather, meant that the Christ being would become manifest in non-physical form, in the "etheric realm" — i. The etheric plane (see also Etheric body) is a term introduced into Theosophy by Charles Webster Leadbeater and Annie Besant to represent one e. visible to spiritual vision and apparent in community life — for increasing numbers of people, beginning around the year 1933. He emphasized that the future would require humanity to recognize this Spirit of Love in all its genuine forms, regardless of how this is named. He also warned that the traditional name, "Christ", might be used, yet the true essence of this Being of Love ignored. ^[49]

The Christian Community

In the 1920s, Steiner was approached by Friedrich Rittelmeyer, a Lutheran pastor with a congregation in Berlin. Friedrich Rittelmeyer ( 5 October 1872, Dillingen an der Donau - 23 March 1938 in Hamburg) was a Protestant German Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the teachings of the sixteenth-century German reformer Martin Luther Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Rittelmeyer asked if it was possible to create a more modern form of Christianity. Soon others joined Rittelmeyer — mostly Protestant pastors, but including several Roman Catholic priests. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Steiner offered counsel on renewing the sacraments of their various services, combining Catholicism's emphasis on the rites of a sacred tradition with the emphasis on freedom of thought and a personal relationship to religious life characteristic of modern, Johannine Christianity. A sacrament, as defined in Hexam's Concise Dictionary of Religion is "a Rite in which God is uniquely active Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience and freedom of ideas) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact viewpoint ^[38]

Steiner made it clear, however, that the resulting movement for the renewal of Christianity, which became known as "The Christian Community", was a personal gesture of help to a movement founded by Rittelmeyer and others independently of the Anthroposophical Society. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings The Christian Community (German) is a Christian Denomination. The General Anthroposophical Society is an organization dedicated to supporting the community of those interested in the form of Spirituality known as Anthroposophy ^[38] The distinction was important to Steiner because he sought with Anthroposophy to create a scientific, not faith-based, spirituality. Faith is a Belief in the trustworthiness of an Idea. Formal usage of the word "faith" is usually reserved for concepts of Religion, as in ^[47] For those who wished to find more traditional forms, however, a renewal of the traditional religions was also a vital need of the times.

Reception of Steiner

Olav Hammer, though sharply critical of esoteric movements generally, terms Steiner "arguably the most historically and philosophically sophisticated spokesperson of the Esoteric Tradition. Olav Hammer, (born 1958 is a Swedish professor at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense working in the field of History of religion. "^[50]

Steiner's work has influenced a broad range of noted personalities. Among these have been many writers, artists and musicians; these include Inkling and philosopher Owen Barfield, Pulitzer Prize-winning and Nobel Laureate Saul Bellow,^[51] Andrej Belyj,^[52][53] Josef Beuys^[54], Michael Chekhov, Michael Ende, Wassily Kandinsky,^[55][56] Nobel Laureates Selma Lagerlöf^[57] and Albert Schweitzer, Andrei Tarkovsky,^[58] Richard Tarnas and Bruno Walter. The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Owen Barfield ( November 9, 1898 – December 14, 1997) was a British Philosopher, Author, poet and Critic. The Pulitzer Prize, ˈpʊlɨtsɚ PULL-it-sər is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in Newspaper journalism, This is a list of Nobel Prize Laureates awarded for their outstanding contributions to Humanitarian causes for Peace, work in Literature Saul Bellow, born Solomon Bellows ( June 10, 1915 – April 5, 2005) was an acclaimed Canadian -born American Andrei Bely (Андрей Белый was the pseudonym of Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev ( &ndash January 8, 1934) a Russian novelist poet Joseph Beuys (ˈjoːzɛf ˈbɔʏs May 12, 1921 – January 23, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (Russian Михаил Александрович Чехов August 29 1891 in Moscow &ndash September 30 Michael Andreas Helmuth Ende ( November 12, 1929 - August 28, 1995) was a German writer of fantasy and Children's Wassily Kandinsky (Russian Василий Кандинский first name pronounced as) ( – 13 December 1944 was a Russian painter, Printmaker / sèlˈma ʊ̀tiːlɪa lʊ̀viˈsa lɑ̀ːgərˈløːv / (20 November 1858&ndash16 March 1940 was a Swedish Author and the first woman writer to win the Albert Schweitzer, MD, OM, (January 14 1875 &ndash September 4 1965 was an Alsatian theologian, Musician, Philosopher Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (Андре́й Арсе́ньевич Тарко́вский (April 4 1932 - December 29 1986 was a Soviet Film director, writer and opera director Richard Tarnas (born February 21 1950) author of The Passion of the Western Mind (1991 and Cosmos and Psyche (2006 is a cultural historian WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Bruno Walter ( September 15, 1876 &ndash February ^[59]

Controversies

Race and ethnicity

In an exhaustive study, Helmut Zander concludes that "whether a given reader interprets Anthroposophy as racist or not depends upon that reader's concerns. "^[60] This is partly because Steiner's comments about race are inconsistent in a way typical of his times.

On the one hand, he characterized specific races, nations, and ethnicities in ways that have been termed racist by critics,^[61] including:

• Characterizations of various races and ethnic groups as backward or destined to disappear. The term race or racial group usually refers to the concept of categorizing Humans into Populations or groups on the basis of various sets A nation is a Human Cultural and Social Community. In as much as most members never meet each other yet feel a common bond it may be considered List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that ^[60]
• Hierarchical views of the spiritual evolution of different races,^[62] including - at times, and inconsistently - placing the white race, and more particularly the Germanic people, at the high-point of human evolution, though portraying these as destined to be superseded by other peoples and races in the future. The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 ^[60]

On the other hand, Steiner emphasized the core spiritual unity of all the world's peoples and sharply criticized racial prejudice, stating his beliefs that:

• The individual nature of any person stands higher than any racial, ethnic, national or religious affiliation,^[38][4]
• Race and ethnicity are transient, not essential aspects of the individual, especially since in Steiner's view each individual incarnates in many different peoples and races over successive lives, thus bearing within him- or herself a range of races and peoples. ^[63][60]
• Race is rapidly losing any remaining significance for humanity. Humanity or mankind is the Human species Human nature (eg Compassion, Altruism) and the Human condition (the totality ^[60]

Judaism

• Beginning around the turn of the century, Steiner wrote a series of seven articles attacking the Antisemitism of the era,^[64] criticizing some of the most prominent anti-Semites of the time as "barbaric" "enemies of culture". Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility ^[65]
• From the early 1920s on, massive defamatory press attacks against Steiner were undertaken by early National Socialist leaders (as well as by other right-wing nationalists), who criticized Steiner's thought and Anthroposophy as being incompatible with National Socialist racist ideology and charged that Steiner was influenced by his connections with Jews. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner (25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925 which postulates the existence of an objective intellectually List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ ^[65][21]
• Steiner promoted the complete assimilation of the Jewish people into the nations in which they lived, a stance which has come under criticism in recent years. Jewish Assimilation is a social and religious process of loss of the Jewish identity of an individual by marriage to a spouse that is not Jewish or the abandonment ^[60]

References

Bibliography

Many works are available in web versions through the Rudolf Steiner Archive. Many audio recordings of his written works are available through Rudolf Steiner Audio. The full German texts of all of Steiner's published works is searchable at the Rudolf Steiner Archive. A list of all English translations of all works by Steiner is available at this site.

Out of the 350 volumes of his collected works (including more than forty volumes containing his writings, and over 6000 published lectures), some of the more significant works include

Steiner's writings

• Goethean Science (1883 – 1897)
• Truth and Knowledge (doctoral thesis), 1892
• Intuitive thinking as a spiritual path, also published as the Philosophy of Freedom (1894) ISBN 088010385X
• Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception (1886)
• Mysticism at the Dawn of Modern Age (1901/1925)
• Christianity as Mystical Fact (1902)
• Cosmic Memory: Prehistory of Earth and Man (1904)
• Theosophy: An Introduction to the Spiritual Processes in Human Life and in the Cosmos (1904) ISBN 0-88010-373-6
• How to Know Higher Worlds: A Modern Path of Initiation (1904-5) ISBN 0-88010-508-9
• The Education of the Child, (1907) ISBN 0-85440-620-4
• An Outline of Esoteric Science (1910) ISBN 0-88010-409-0
• Four Mystery Dramas (1913)
• The Renewal of the Social Organism (1919)
• Reordering of Society: The Fundamental Social Law (1919) (article)
• Fundamentals of Therapy: An Extension of the Art of Healing Through Spiritual Knowledge (1925)
• The Story of my Life (1924-5) (autobiography)

Steiner's lectures

The subjects of the over 6,000 published lectures by Steiner are classified by the publisher as follows (see complete catalog in pdf format):

General anthroposophy

• public lectures
• lectures for workmen at the Goetheanum
• lectures for members of the Anthroposophical Society
  • An Esoteric Cosmology (1906)
  • Occult Signs and Symbols (1907)
  • The East in the Light of the West (1909)
  • Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy and Philosophy (1912)
  • Balance in the World and Man, Lucifer and Ahriman (1914)
  • Preparing for the Sixth Epoch (1915)
  • Supersensible Knowledge (1916)
  • Cosmic and Human Metamorphoses (1917)
  • Evil and the Future of Man (1918)
  • On the life of the Soul (1923)
  • Man as Symphony of the Creative Word (1923)
  • Anthroposophy and the Inner Life (1924)
  • Knowledge of the State Between Death and a New Birth (1926?)
• lectures for members of the School of Spiritual Science
• lectures about karma and reincarnation
  • Manifestations of Karma (1910)
  • Reincarnation and Karma: How Karma Works (1922)
  • Buermann, Uwe, Die Anschauung des Karma bei Rudolf Steiner. The Philosophy of Freedom, the fundamental philosophical work of the Philosopher and Esotericist Rudolf Steiner, focuses on the concept of Verlag Freies Geistesleben, 2006. ISBN 3-7725-1912-1

Education and science

• Education
  • Study of Man, (1918)
  • Practical Advice To Teachers, (1919) ISBN 0880104678
• Medicine
  • Medicine: An Introductory Reader (ed. Andrew Maendl, M. D. ) ISBN 1-85584-133-9.
  • Spiritual Science and Medicine (1920)
  • Physiology and Therapeutics (1920)
  • Fundamentals of Anthroposophical Medicine (1922)
  • The Human Heart (1922)
• Science
  • First Scientific Lecture: The Light Course (1919-20)
  • The Origins of Natural Science (1923). ISBN 0-88010-140-7
• Agriculture
  • Agriculture Course, (1924) ISBN 1-85584-148-7
• Sociology
  • Social Understanding Through Spiritual Scientific Knowledge (1919)
  • Social and Anti-Social Forces in the Human Being (1918)
• Economics
  • World Economy, (1922) ISBN 0-85440-266-7

Religion

• Christianity
  • Collected Christmas lectures (1904 - 1922)
  • Collected Easter lectures (1908 - 1921)
  • Collected Ascension and Pentecostal lectures (1908 - 1924)
  • Collected Michaelmas lectures (1913-1924)
  • The Deed of Christ and the Opposing Spiritual Powers: Lucifer, Ahriman, Asuras. Mephistopheles and Earthquakes. (1909)
  • The Bhagavad Gita and the Epistles of St. Paul (1912-13) ISBN 9780880106047
  • Anthroposophy and Christianity (1914) ISBN 9780880101493
  • The Fifth Gospel, (1913) ISBN 1-85584-039-1
  • Pre-Earthly Deeds of Christ (1914) ISBN 0919924018
  • Self Knowledge and the Christ Experience (1923) ISBN 0880102098
• lectures for The Christian Community

Works about Steiner by other authors

• Ahern, Geoffrey Sun at Midnight. The Rudolf Steiner Movement and the Western Esoteric Tradition 1984, ISBN 0-85030-338-9
• Almon, Joan (ed. ) Meeting Rudolf Steiner, firsthand experiences compiled from the Journal for Anthroposophy since 1960, ISBN 0-9674562-8-2
• Childs, Gilbert, Rudolf Steiner: His Life and Work, ISBN 0-88010-391-4
• Davy, Adams and Merry, A Man Before Others: Rudolf Steiner Remembered. Rudolf Steiner Press, 1993.
• Easton, Stewart, Rudolf Steiner: Herald of a New Epoch, ISBN 0-910142-93-9
• Hemleben, Johannes and Twyman,Leo, Rudolf Steiner: An Illustrated Biography. Rudolf Steiner Press, 2001.
• Lachman, Gary, Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to His Life and Work, 2007, ISBN 1-58542-543-5
• Lindenberg, Christoph, Rudolf Steiner: Eine Biographie (2 vols. Gary (Valentine Lachman (born December 24, 1955 in Bayonne, New Jersey, United States) is a writer and musician ). Stuttgart, 1997, ISBN 3-7725-1551-7
• Lissau, Rudi, Rudolf Steiner: Life, Work, Inner Path and Social Initiatives. Hawthorne Press, 2000.
• McDermott, Robert, The Essential Steiner. Robert McDermott is professor of Philosophy and Religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Harper Press, 1984
• Seddon, Richard, Rudolf Steiner. North Atlantic Books, 2004.
• Shepherd, A. P. , Rudolf Steiner: Scientist of the Invisible. Inner Traditions, 1990.
• Schiller, Paul, Rudolf Steiner and Initiation. Steiner Books, 1990.
• Swassjan, Karen, The Ultimate Communion of Mankind: A Celebration of Rudolf Steiner's Book "The Philosophy of Freedom", ISBN 0-904693-82-1
• Tummer, Lia and Lato, Horacio, Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy for Beginners. Writers & Readers Publishing, 2001.
• Turgeniev, Assya, Reminiscences of Rudolf Steiner and Work on the First Goetheanum, ISBN 1-902636-40-6
• Welburn, Andrew, Rudolf Steiner's Philosophy and the Crisis of Contemporary Thought, ISBN 0-86315-436-0
• Wilkinson, Roy, Rudolf Steiner: An Introduction to his Spiritual World-View, ISBN 1-902636-28-7

External links

General

• Goetheanum
• Rudolf Steiner Overview
• The Anthroposophy Network
• Anthros.net - webguide for Anthroposophy
• The Calendar of the Soul
• Article about Steiner by Gary Lachman published in the Fortean Times
• The Anthroposophical Society in America
• In the News about the anthroposophical movement
• U.S. Directory of Initiatives

Writings

• Works by Rudolf Steiner at Project Gutenberg
• The Rudolf Steiner Archive
• Steiner Books Press
• Steiner lending library
• Philosophy of Freedom website
• Rudolf Steiner Audio

Practical activities

• Emerson College in the UK
• Rudolf Steiner Foundation (dba RSF Social Finance)
• Association of Waldorf Schools of North America
• Steiner/Waldorf Schools Fellowship of the UK
• Camphill Association
• The Christian Community
• Biodynamic Farming & Gardening Association

Articles about Steiner

• Heiner Ullrich, "Rudolf Steiner", Prospects: the quarterly review of comparative education (Paris, UNESCO: International Bureau of Education), vol. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works XXIV, no. 3/4, 1994, p. 555-572
• Rudolf Steiner: 'Scientist of the Invisible' (Carlin Romano, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Volume 53, Issue 37, 2007, p. B16)

Further interest

• See photos from Motzstraße 30, Schöneberg, Berlin, where Rudolf Steiner lived from 1903 to 1923.
• Steiner's astrological birth chart

Criticism

• Skeptics Dictionary

Persondata
NAME	Steiner, Rudolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Austrian philosopher, literary scholar, educator, artist, playwright, social thinker, and esotericist
DATE OF BIRTH	25 February 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH	Donji Kraljevec, Croatia
DATE OF DEATH	30 March 1925
PLACE OF DEATH	Dornach, Switzerland

Austrians (Österreicher are a nation and an ethnic group originating from the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states ( March of Austria, Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Year 1861 ( MDCCCLXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Donji Kraljevec is a municipality in Međimurje County, Croatia. Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Dornach is a municipality in the district of Dorneck in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation

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