Anthroposophy and Science: Observation, Experiment, Mathematics (CW 324) (Mercury Press)

8 lectures, Stuttgart, March 16–23, 1921 (CW 324)

Rudolf Steiner examines the underlying precepts of the modern scientific approach and its current tools of observation of nature, experimentation, and the use of mathematics to establish quantitative relationships which are then framed as laws. He relates the validity of this approach for examination of the lifeless mineral realm and then describes the different cognitive states that are necessary to scientifically examine the realms of the living and of the conscious.

Anthroposophy and Science was originally published in German as, Naturbeobachtung, Experiment, Mathematik und die Erkenntnisstuffen der Geistesforschung (2nd ed., copyright © by Rudolf Steiner-Nachlassverwaltung), published by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, 1972 (GA 324).

Rudolf 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. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner's multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.