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Locate recent posts in Post Tracker MAJOR WEBSITE UPGRADE SOON, USE CONTACT FOR ANY SUGGESTIONS The NEW Philosophy Of Freedom Study Course will be available around February 20, 2012. Cost: $10, the price of an inexpensive book.
UPDATE: The new study course is done except for the quizzes being added now.
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"A Modern Philosophy Of Life Developed By Scientific Methods"
Rudolf Steiner's Philosophy of Freedom
Summaries, videos, topic outline and more.
This is the mood the youthful Steiner wrote the original Philosophy of Freedom out of as displayed in Chapter 1, The Goal of Knowledge. The producer of this video (800,000 views) is a marketing person who has captured the mood of today's youth as marketing people can do, and has raised the question about the existence of a path or "way". He also recognizes that outer freedom is related to inner freedom, and requires dealing with the brain and conditioned behavior. But he doesn't have an answer other than a generalized historical "way" or a generalized impulse to act. The youth have already rejected the historical religious and spiritual paths as part of the establishment preferring science over faith, allegory, the magical supernatural and superstition. And how do we know the origin of our impulses to act? The Philosophy of Freedom is a path to freedom that embraces science, even considers the scientific method and scientific thinking as necessary tools. A lack of support for presenting The Philosophy of Freedom itself may mean it fails to contribute to this movement, or maybe it will. What we do or don't do now will play a big role in the outcome.
Here are the first words of Rudolf Steiner in the original beginning of the Philosophy of Freedom below.
CHAPTER I
THE GOAL OF KNOWLEDGE
Principles Of Individualistic Life 1. Free Oneself From Authority
An energetic effort is being made to shake off every kind of authority. 2. Power Of Individual Expression
Nothing is accepted as valid, unless it springs from the roots of individuality. Everything which hinders the individual in the full development of his powers is thrust aside. 3. Leaderless Striving
The saying “Each one of us must choose his hero in whose footsteps he toils up to Olympus” no longer holds for us. 4. Individual Selection Of Ideals
We allow no ideals to be forced upon us. 5. Individual Worthiness
We are convinced that in each of us, if only we probe deep enough into the very heart of our being, there dwells something noble, something worthy of development. 6. Rejection Of Conformity
We no longer believe that there is a norm of human life to which we must all strive to conform. 7. Perfection Of Each Individual
We regard the perfection of the whole as depending on the unique perfection of each single individual. 8. Unique Contribution
We do not want to do what anyone else can do equally well. No, our contribution to the development of the world, however trifling, must be something which, by reason of the uniqueness of our nature, we alone can offer. 9. Creative Expression
Never have artists been less concerned about rules and norms in art than today. Each of them asserts his right to express, in the creations of his art, what is unique in him. 10. Dynamic Language
There are dramatists who write in dialect rather than conform to the standard diction which grammar demands. 11. Striving Towards Freedom
No better expression for these phenomena can be found than this, that they result from the individual’s striving towards freedom, developed to its highest pitch. 12. Independence
We do not want to be dependent in any respect, and where dependence must be, we tolerate it only on condition that it coincides with a vital interest of our individuality.
Amazon (German) Book Review of Jürgen Strube's "Observation Of Thinking" by Alfonso Seistil: Finally, a book that introduces the basic exercises in the "Philosophy of Freedom" by Rudolf Steiner. As a result, the true value of the "Philosophy of Freedom" can be realised, because this is not a book that you read just to accumulate knowledge, but, with the suitable intensity must be applied as a practise book. This is how it is different from other philosophical books, that it is not a theoretical book, but contains the results of "soul observation by the scientific method," as Rudolf Steiner says. So it's a philosophical anthropology. The book "The observation of thinking" offers the opportunity to become acquainted with this very important work and also to gain a lot of benefits from it for practical life.
As a teenager I was put on this path when I formulated the question of where thoughts come from. It seemed clear to me from my own observation that while I give impetus to, and the occasion for, thoughts to occur, I do not, in the same sense, create them myself. Since I could not imagine that others before me had not entertained this question about the emergence of thoughts, I then sought out literature that could suitably clarify my question. My search was unsuccessful at first. In the works that I found later the question of human knowledge was dealt with as an abstract formulation of information theory, which was interesting in itself but did not touch upon my actual question. Finally, I turned my attention to Steiner's "Philosophy of Freedom". It addressed what really interested me: “However we approach the matter, it becomes more and more clear that the question of the nature of human action presupposes that of the origin of thinking". POF 2.12
This book impressed me with its clarity and logic. It made no philosophical presuppositions, but was based on observations.
During subsequent repeated studies of the "Philosophy of Freedom" in working groups, the question arose as to whether the facts that were represented there conceptually could be illustrated by specific examples. It also became clear that it is not always easy to match what you read with your own inner experiences. In this book I thus offer a set of practical, easily executable exercises that I hope will facilitate the reader’s own, direct experiences.
Dipperz, December 2009
Jürgen Strube The Observation Of Thinking ― Rudolf Steiner’s “Philosophy of Freedom” As a Path to the Knowledge of Formative-forces (English translation by Jeff & David Martin)
Submitted by Tom Last on Sun, 11/13/2011 - 9:53pm.
When the Hoernle translation was republished a few months ago it was ranked #36 on Amazon books when you searched "Rudolf Steiner Philosophy Of Freedom". Today it was ranked #2. Because we published it at cost without profit it is available at a lower cost ($9.80) then the other translations. It can be purchased here.
