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The Formation of a Western Sage

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Rudolf Steiner

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Abstract

This chapter describes Steiner’s life from his boyhood years until the time when he joined the Theosophical Society. It recounts how Steiner grew up in the borderland between nature and culture and between traditional country life and the growth of modern technology. How as a young boy he had clairvoyant experiences of the spiritual world and how it led him to study philosophy, especially epistemology, in his youth. These personal interests were added to his studies of engineering at the Vienna College of Technology. Steiner edited Goethe’s scientific writings and developed a Goetheanistic epistemology. He had a personal encounter with Nietzsche, obtained a Ph.D. in philosophy and wrote the book Die Philosophie der Freiheit (The philosophy of freedom). He was part of cultural life in Berlin at the end of the nineteenth century, working as a writer and literary critic in journals and as a teacher in the educational movement of the working class. Steiner’s open and non-dogmatic relation to Christianity, as the result of a period of inner struggles and trials, is dealt with in a special section. Finally, how Steiner gained practical pedagogical experience by working as a private tutor in his student years is described.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    English edition: Steiner (2010).

  2. 2.

    The criticisms of Zander can also be found on the Website of Lorenzo Ravagli, http://www.zander-zitiert.de/publikationen/rudolf-steiner-die-biografie/ (accessed 2017-03-16). See also Weickmann (2007, October 4), who, from a more neutral point of view, comes to a rather similar critical evaluation of Zander (2007).

  3. 3.

    There is actually some uncertainty regarding the exact date, whether it is the 27 or the 25; again, see Ravagli’s Website, http://www.zander-zitiert.de/publikationen/rudolf-steiner-die-biografie/falsche-behauptungen/ (accessed 2017-03-17).

  4. 4.

    This book is based on a lecture held in Berlin 1913 for members of the Anthroposophical Society (AS) and seems not (yet) to be part of the GA. The concern of the lecture is to refute the accusations of Ms. Annie Beasant, at that time head of the Theosophical Society (TS). Ms. Beasant claimed that Steiner was educated by the Jesuits (not a favourable thing in the theosophical view). In the book, Steiner also explains why he did not join the TS in the 1880s, when he first encountered them in Vienna. The reason was that he perceived a lack of—perhaps even a resistance to—logical and exact thinking.

  5. 5.

    As pointed out in Chap. 1, as a young adult Steiner involved himself in studies of many different and opposed streams of thought, such as mysticism as well as natural science. Some of his critics take this as a sign of superficiality and eclecticism. But we see from his boyhood that already then, he was engaged in a personal search for truth which led him in many different directions (cf. Skagen 2015; p 80f).

  6. 6.

    This was a German nationalistic student association, which was affiliated with Leseverein der deutschen Studenten Wiens (readers’ association of German students in Vienna), a fact which has been used to depict Steiner as a German nationalist in a negative, political sense (cf. Skagen 2015; p. 319). However, as Skagen (ibid.) points out, German nationalism was the mainstream cultural movement in Austria by this time. In addition, Steiner’s motive for participating in the association was not political but only cultural and intellectual. It gave him the opportunity to write letters to the authors of many books that interested him and ask them for a free copy to the association’s library. Steiner’s sympathy for German nationalism was based on the deep inspiration he received from German idealistic philosophy; it had no racist connotations.

  7. 7.

    English edition: Steiner (2009).

  8. 8.

    Goethe himself would probably approve of how Steiner dealt with his texts on science. Schimanski (1998) reports Goethe saying that the texts he left to the world should be treated liberally and, according to his intentions, not pedantically and without love.

  9. 9.

    English edition: Steiner (2011a).

  10. 10.

    Goethe says: ‘The highest would be: to understand, that all actuality (alles Faktische) is already theory. The blueness of the sky reveals the basic law of chromatics. Only do not seek anything behind the phenomena: they themselves are the theory (die Lehre)’ (Goethe 1981, p. 233; my translation).

  11. 11.

    English edition: Steiner (2007).

  12. 12.

    One can find such a contradiction also in his autobiography: in contrast to his objection to dissolving the dualism between spirit and matter noted above, he later in the same book (Steiner 2000a [GA 28]) says, that the source of that which expresses itself as spirit in human culture and as matter in the physical world is something, that is beyond both modes of being. This something unites both spirit and matter and is the basis for Steiner’s monistic ontology, which is therefore, strictly speaking, neither materialistic nor spiritualistic (see further Chap. 3).

  13. 13.

    The number of students increased each year and the lectures were held in late evening, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.—perhaps a testimony to the interest and enthusiasm of both the students and their teacher.

  14. 14.

    Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in Rome in 1600, condemned for heresy by the Catholic Church.

  15. 15.

    English edition: Steiner (2011b).

  16. 16.

    According to Bock (1961), in 1899 Steiner completely changed his lifestyle almost from one day to the next, as a result of his inner tribulations.

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  1. Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

    Bo Dahlin

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Dahlin, B. (2017). The Formation of a Western Sage. In: Rudolf Steiner. SpringerBriefs in Education(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58907-7_2

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