Monday, October 18, 2021

 


Steiner and the Theosophical Current

2016, Schriften – Rudolf Steiner Kritische Ausgabe: Band 6: Schriften zur Anthropologie – Theosophie – Anthroposophie. Ein Fragment
1516 ViewsPaperRank: 6.212 Pages
Foreword to Volume 6 of the series Schriften – Rudolf Steiner Kritische Aufgabe (frommann-holzboog Verlag, 2016), edited by Christian Clement. This volume contains Steiner's two texts, Theosophie and Anthroposophie. The foreword discusses Steiner's relationship to the Theosophical and post-Theosophical currents.



‘Rudolf Steiner’s engagement with contemporary artists’ groups: art-theoretical discourse in the anthroposophical milieu in Germany in the early 20th century’

2018, Journal of Art Historiography 19
1405 ViewsPaperRank: 5.433 Pages
It is a topos that the manifold heterodox religious movements that have been spreading throughout Europe in the late 19th century paved the way for the abandonment of representational painting by virtue of providing a reconsideration of traditional thought systems as well as a reorientation of established values. The leading proponents of these subversive ideas often sought to direct and regulate artistic production through various ways. In this context, Rudolf Steiner’s dynamic interaction with young artists who came to attend his lectures offers an interesting paradigm that stands in sharp contrast to other practices followed by more traditional scholarly simulated lectures. After 1907, by weaving together esoteric Christianity with Goethe’s colour theory and projecting them into an art historical narrative, Steiner denounced the mainstream theosophical doctrine, spread by Annie Besant, and was ready to express contemporary preoccupations regarding the importance of colour in the reinvention of artistic practice. Both a transmitter of ideas and an eclectic recipient of contemporary artistic discourses, Steiner urged young artists to engage with specific art-theory discourses and interfered in the artistic production by commissioning art works or by providing instructions for them.





‘And the Building Becomes Man’: Meaning and Aesthetics in Rudolf Steiner’s Goetheanum

3590 Views14 Pages
"Rudolf Steiner, founder of the Anthroposophical Society, is renowned for his work in widely varied fields. However, his accomplishments as an architect are less well understood. His two greatest achievements in this field – two buildings known as ‘Geotheanum I’ and ‘Goetheanum II’ (built after the destruction of the 1st) – have been described as ‘sculptural architecture’, of a kind similar Expressionist form to Gaudi, Obrist, and Finsterlin. The focus of this chapter, Goetheanum II, is a giant sculptured form, four stories high, with sweeping lines that give the effect of a giant monolithic mass. It is home to the Anthroposophical movement, and holds a 1,000 seat performance hall in which spiritual performances take place. Contributors to an issue of the Swiss architectural magazine Werk, in 1960, on the building, agreed that the building’s design must have required “a uniform worldview and lifestyle.” Indeed, to understand the Goetheanum requires an understanding of Anthroposophy and of Steiner himself. This chapter looks at the meaning in the aesthetic choices of Steiner in the design and construction of the Goetheanum II. Steiner’s belief that the people of Western Europe needed to re-orientate their weltanschauung is understood as a spiritual need. Interestingly, it was a view shared by many Expressionist artists. Steiner could not have been unaware of a number of significant Expressionistic philosophies and forms present in Europe during his formative period. As a lecturer he travelled extensively, and came into contact with many artists and writers who shared similar ideas. His vision for the Goetheanum was grandiose, like those of many other Expressionists, though unlike many others he had the opportunity to build his vision himself. The Goetheanum has also been referred to as a gesamtkunstwerk, also a theme common in the German art scene at the time. Yet Steiner wanted something ‘new’ for his nascent spiritual group; “Not to build in a style born out of our spiritual world view, would mean to deny Anthroposphy in her own house.” As a result the Geotheanum expresses Anthroposophical ideals, a movement which itself professed to inhabit the entire cultural life of its adherents. For Steiner this was came in the form of spiritual realisation, which could best be achieved in the sculptural shapes and organic forms of the Goetheanum"



Rudolf Steiner’s Theories and Their Translation into Architecture
by
Fiona Gray
B.A. Arts (Arch.); B. ARCH. (Deakin).
Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy 

On Rudolf Steiner's Conception of Consciousness Soul (by Johannes Kiersch)

2021, STEINER STUDIES

81 Pages

The concept of 'consciousness soul' (Bewusstseinsseele) is part of the terminological core of Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy. It has been discussed to a certain extent within the isolated discourse among anthroposophically oriented researchers, but has so far hardly been acknowledged in academic studies on Steiner. The present article undertakes a first systematic mapping of the research area in which this term can be meaningfully located, discussing three frameworks that have appeared so far as promising and hermeneutically appropriate approaches to the difficult subject.

https://www.academia.edu/53157242/On_Rudolf_Steiners_Conception_of_Consciousness_Soul_by_Johannes_Kiersch_


Anthroposophy and its Defenders

(co-written with Peter Zegers)

Reply to Peter Normann Waage, “Humanism and Polemical Populism”

“Anthroposophy and Ecofascism” has sparked a debate within Scandinavian humanist circles, with some authors like Peter Normann Waage lining up to defend anthroposophy as a harmless variant of humanism. 1 While we are encouraged by this long overdue debate, we are troubled by the degree of historical naiveté it has revealed. Waage’s perspective seems to represent a view that is fairly widespread among educated and well-intentioned people. We hope that we can contribute to a more accurate view of the political ihttps://social-ecology.org/wp/2009/01/anthroposophy-and-its-defenders-2/mplications of anthroposophy by correcting several of the misconceptions exemplified by Waage’s reply. Although Waage has nothing to say about the article’s main topic, the systematic collusion between organized anthroposophy and the so-called “green wing” of German fascism, he does raise several issues that lie at the core of that collusion. Waage would have us believe that Rudolf Steiner was a principled anti-racist, that he opposed private property, rejected militarism and nationalism, and was a staunch adversary of Nazism.  These claims are not simply untrue; they betray a surprising unfamiliarity with Steiner’s published work and a profound misunderstanding of anthroposophy’s political history.

https://social-ecology.org/wp/2009/01/anthroposophy-and-its-defenders-2/

Neo-Nazi elements sold as Anthroposophy


60 Pages
On racism and Holocaust negationism in the anthroposophical scene in the Netjherlands and Belgium. Original published on Egoisten.de (Germany). Also on http://fhs1973.com/2009/08/24/



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