Past and Future Impulses in Societal Events: (CW 190) (Volume 190) (The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner) - Softcover

Steiner, Rudolf

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1855846578 ISBN 13: 9781855846579

Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press, 2023

Synopsis

12 lectures to members, Dornach, March 21 – April 14, 1919 (CW 190)

“Never has it been so hard for people to accept someone else’s opinion or to follow their reasoning; never was pig-headedness with regard to sticking to one’s own opinions as great as it is today. And if it happens that one draws attention to the one-sidedness of every human opinion, indeed even to the one-sidedness of everything we call human truth, if it happens that one elucidates things from different sides, one is accused of expressing different opinions at different times. We won’t come to a healthy socialism based on a social understanding of the human being if t his ability of one individual to adapt to another doesn’t also enter our souls.” ― Rudolf Steiner (March 21, 1919)

Barely four months after the end of World War I, with Europe in chaos and exhausted from years of conflict, Rudolf Steiner offered these lectures as a call for hope and renewal. Despite ongoing social troubles around the world, he knew that people had an opportunity to reorganize society in a new way. Steiner responded to this prospect by offering suggestions for creating innovative social structures in harmony with people’s inner needs.

Steiner states that humanity as a whole faces a great challenge that constitutes “crossing the threshold” to the spiritual world. This means that an evolutionary separation is taking place within the human soul among our thinking, feeling, and will. Before this can happen in a healthy way, the outer makeup of society must mirror and support our internal evolution. Steiner points to the urgent need to “threefold” society, separating the activities of culture, economics, and politics. This is a subconscious demand, he asserts. It is not an excuse for inventing cranky ideas in a sect, but for shedding light on what is universally needed!

“...the German word Geist...can mean mind or spirit in a broad sense, or both at the same time. In the context of these lectures, Steiner uses the term to describe a very wide sweep of human activity.... Depending on context, Geistesleben can therefore be translated as ‘the life of thought,’ ‘intellectual life,’ ‘spiritual life,’ cultural life,’ or synonyms of these. I understand the term to cover the areas of life in which individuals are free to develop their own individual capacities and talents, thus enriching civilization and culture in general.” ― Paul King (from his introduction)

These important lectures cover numerous themes, including overcoming class distinctions; administration of money, technology and capitalism; antisocial tendencies of nationalism; and future management of international relations.

This book is a translation from German of Vergangenheits- und Zukunftsimpulse im sozialen Geschehen. Die geistigen Hintergründe deer sozialen Frage – Band II (GA 190).

About this title

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (b. Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner, 1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. Steiner termed his spiritual philosophy anthroposophy, meaning “wisdom of the human being.” As an exceptionally developed seer, he based his work on direct knowledge and perception of spiritual dimensions. He initiated a modern, universal “spiritual science” that is accessible to anyone willing to exercise clear and unbiased thinking. From his spiritual investigations, Steiner provided suggestions for the renewal of numerous activities, including education (general and for special needs), agriculture, medicine, economics, architecture, science, philosophy, Christianity, and the arts. There are currently thousands of schools, clinics, farms, and initiatives in other fields that involve practical work based on the principles Steiner developed. His many published works feature his research into the spiritual nature of human beings, the evolution of the world and humanity, and methods for personal development. He wrote some thirty books and delivered more than six thousand lectures throughout much of Europe. In 1924, Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches around the world.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rudolf Steiner Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1855846578
• ISBN 13: 9781855846579
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 252