Founding a Science of the Spirit: (Cw 95) (The Collected Works of Rudolf Steiner)

Fourteen lectures, Stuttgart, August–September 1906 (CW 95)

‘Everyone can derive joy and hope from the communications of another, for what we are told about the higher worlds is not mere theory, unrelated to life. As its fruits, it brings us two things we must have if we are to lay hold of life in the right way – strength and security – and both are given in the highest measure.’ – Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner speaks with great clarity and precision on the fundamental nature of the human being in relation to the cosmos, the evolution of the Earth, the journey of the soul after death, reincarnation and karma, good and evil, and the modern path of meditative training. Throughout, his emphasis is on a scientific exposition of spiritual phenomena. As he says in the final lecture: ‘the highest knowledge of mundane things is thoroughly compatible with the highest knowledge of spiritual truths’.

This popular course of lectures offers a fine introduction to the whole of Steiner’s teaching, and is an excellent complement to his fundamental texts. At the same time, it features valuable material that cannot be found elsewhere, such as two rare question-and-answer sessions, where the lecturer offers immediate and often surprising responses to audience members’ queries.

This new edition features an introduction by Brien Masters, notes and an index. 

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.

Matthew Barton is a translator, editor, teacher, and poet, and taught kindergarten for many years at the Bristol Waldorf School. His first collection of poems was Learning To Row (1999). He has won numerous prizes for his work, including an Arts Council Writer's Award and a Hawthornden Fellowship.