The Philosophy of Freedom
The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity
Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path
Is "spiritual activity" the best term to describe the theme of the book for today?
1894 preface
How philosophy as an art is related to human freedom, what freedom is, and whether we do, or can, participate in it — this is the main theme of my book. All other scientific discussions are included only because they ultimately throw light on these questions, which are, in my opinion, the most immediate concern of mankind. These pages offer a “Philosophy of Freedom”.
Michael Wilson intro--
FREEDOM is not an exact equivalent of the German word Freiheit, although among its wide spectrum of meanings there are some that do correspond. In certain circumstances, however, the differences are important. Steiner himself drew attention to this, for instance, in a lecture he gave at Oxford in 1922, where he said with reference to this book,
"Therefore today we need above all a view of the world based on Freiheit -- one can use this word in German, but here in England one must put it differently because the word 'freedom' has a different meaning -- one must say a view of the world based on spiritual activity, on action, on thinking and feeling that arise from the individual human spirit." -Rudolf Steiner
When describing any kind of creative activity we speak of a "freedom of style" or "freedom of expression" in a way that indicates an inner conquest of outer restraints. This inner conquest is the theme of the book, and it is in this sense that I believe the title The Philosophy of Freedom would be understood today.
When Steiner questioned the aptness of this title, he expressed the view that English people believed that they already possessed freedom, and that they needed to be shocked out of their complacency and made to realize that the freedom he meant had to be attained by hard work.
While this may still be true today, the alternative he suggested is now less likely to achieve this shock than is the original. I have not found that the title The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity gives the newcomer any indication that the goal of the book is the attainment of inner freedom. (The book is also available titled Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path.)
Freedom
It is a great point that Steiner makes, that we in the English speaking world (inheritors of the British legal system of trial by jury, etc.) already consider ourselves free, so it might seem as though the book were about what philosophy goes with our God-given freedom, (Maybe the philosophy of the internal combustion engine?)
It reminds me of the part in the Gospel of St. John where Jesus's listeners get so upset because he implies that they're slaves, when they're freeborn children of Abraham, and quite proud of that fact. Snooty, in fact. Just like Americans.
However, the term "spiritual activity" doesn't do anything at all for me. Maybe this is just my idiosyncratic dislike of words derived from Latin, though.
playing
The following are different wordings that might stir new titles. It's actually fun to think of title and, even more, subtitles.
"The Activity of Free Thinking"
"The Insight of Freedom"
"The Realization of Thinking"
"Thinking Human Freedom"
"Realzing Human Freedom"
"Living Thinking"
"The Cogntive Fact of Human Freedom"
"Creating Human Freedom"
"Individuating Freedom's Philosohy"
a description of the role thinking plays in the creation of free activity
an empirical exploration of thinking's promise
an empirisim of human freedom
an archetypal biography of human freedom
gulp
I Like this Game
Evolving to Freedom Through Thinking
Organic Freedom and Thinking
Freedom: A Symphony of Thought/Your Unfinished Symphony
An Exercise Machine for the Spirit
Why Thinking? Getting Beyond Theory to Reality.
The Theory to End All Theories: How to Really be Free.
Hi Tim,
Hi Tim,
I like your propositions, especially the last one.
Best Regards
O.
Yes
I agree with Olga.
I also suggest the phrase Cultivating Freedom Through Spiritual Activity.
Popular Term "organic"
I thought the word organic was interesting in your suggestion Tim of "Organic Freedom and Thinking" to replace "spiritual activity". Organic is a popular contemporary term that relates to "living" as in "living thinking" and "the life of thinking". The term "spiritual" as in new age flake or the religious isn't as well regarded in my opinion. Organic is natural and scientific.
Maybe organic thinking and morality. Wouldn't those progessives drawn to wholeness and the natural be also drawn to becoming an organic thinker? Thinking has earned a reputation as cold and narrow for being one-sided and intellectual but organic implys warmness and wholeness.
organic
Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms.
Resembling a living organism in organization or development; interconnected
Constituting an integral part of a whole; fundamental.
POF chapter 12 Ethical individualism, then, is the crowning feature of the edifice that Darwin and Haeckel have striven to build for natural science. It is spiritualized theory of evolution carried over into moral life.
Anyone who, in a narrow-minded way, restricts the concept of the natural from the outset to an arbitrarily limited sphere may easily conclude that there is no room in it for free individual action. The consistent evolutionist cannot fall a prey to such narrow-mindedness. He cannot let the natural course of evolution terminate with the ape, and allow man to have a "supernatural" origin; in his very search for the natural progenitors of man, he is bound to seek spirit in nature; again, he cannot stop short at the organic functions of man, and take only these as natural, but must go on to regard the free moral life as the spiritual continuation of organic life.
“Thinking’s Essence and Inner Freedom”
How about:
“The Gist of Freedom in the Philosopher’s Mill”
“True Freedom through Organic Thinking”
“The Philosophy of Independence of the Self”
“Liberty of the Self through Thinking”
“Thinking’s Essence and Inner Freedom”
Cheers,
Patri
working title
the translation I'm working on has had the working title of
"The Freeing of Philosophy"
gulp
Organic Spirit
Hi Tom,
Yes I agree I think "organic" is a very good word in this context.
The word "spirituality" has reasonably positive connotations in Australia at least in certain circles, possibly because we are not by nature a religious country it has come to mean the practice of meditations or similar with the primary focus being on individual practice. I believe it may have similar meanings in other English speaking countries.
As for "spirit", since the word has lost meaning it can be defined and clarified. I think the word is still needed to understand the book though maybe not necessarily in the title.
Here are the lyrics of a song by the Waterboys which I think has a decent go at defining spirit:
Man gets tired;
Spirit don't.
Man surrenders;
Spirit won't.
Man crawls;
Spirit flies.
Spirit lives when man dies.
Man seems;
Spirit is.
Man dreams;
Spirit lives.
Man is tethered;
Spirit is free.
What spirit is man can be...
Love "Spirit"
Spirit is a great word. It has so many meanings at different levels that work with POF and holds value with diverse groups. It even has value to a down an out alcoholic who may find spirit in a bottle. (see definition 14)
SPIRIT
1a. The vital principle or animating force within living beings. b. Incorporeal consciousness. 2. The soul, considered as departing from the body of a person at death. 3. Spirit The Holy Spirit. 4. A supernatural being, as: a. An angel or a demon. b. A being inhabiting or embodying a particular place, object, or natural phenomenon. c. A fairy or sprite. 5a. The part of a human associated with the mind, will, and feelings: Though unable to join us today, they are with us in spirit. b. The essential nature of a person or group. 6. A person as characterized by a stated quality: He is a proud spirit. 7a. An inclination or tendency of a specified kind: Her actions show a generous spirit. b. A causative, activating, or essential principle: The couple's engagement was announced in a joyous spirit. 8. spirits A mood or an emotional state: The guests were in high spirits. His sour spirits put a damper on the gathering. 9. A particular mood or an emotional state characterized by vigor and animation: sang with spirit. 10. Strong loyalty or dedication: team spirit. 11. The predominant mood of an occasion or a period: “The spirit of 1776 is not dead” (Thomas Jefferson). 12. The actual though unstated sense or significance of something: the spirit of the law. 13. An alcohol solution of an essential or volatile substance. Often used in the plural with a singular verb. 14. spirits An alcoholic beverage, especially distilled liquor.
A commuters train journey
This has been a real exercise in thinking judging by all the ideas that have popped up on this page, and Tims thoughts sit most comfortably with me at the moment. I travel by train into London everyday, and more often than not I have a copy of POF with me. Call me too self conscious but I do feel more comfortable reading a book with this title when I am squashed in with other people , and perhaps would not sit so comfortably if it was entitled 'A Philosophy of Spiritual Activity' (my problem I know, but it is that down to earth part of me that takes over, and I don't have a problem with spirituality or spirit at all)
'One must be able to face an idea in living experience , otherwise one falls into bondage'
My tuppence worth for a title is 'CREATIVE THINKING AND ACTIVE FREEDOM' This is such an exciting project, and there has been lots to work with over the last week. For me it is being able to put all this into practice creatively in everday living, and to be able to talk happily and openly about it with other people I speak with on a day to day basis.
thank you
Thanks Tom and others!
I have struggled with this issue of the translated title. The quotes are especially helpful.
how about: Philosophy of the free spirit
t
What would Jesus do?
Free spirit is a great term that works today. The book uses free spirit a lot in Part II. In the least it needs to be featured in the writing. "What would my free spirit do?" Lets get some buttons made.
buttons etc.
In my book "the Way of the Fool", the fifth stanza (the first one in the section on Freedom), consists of a long consideration of the inner relationships between PoF, the 12 Steps and the What Would Jesus Do original work by Charles Sheldon in his book "In His Steps".
For example, PoF (1894) was a book written by a King (an initiate), while In His Steps (1897) was a book written by a Shepherd (a young pastor). That they were both written and published in the 1890's (about 14 plus years after the Age of Michael began in 1879) struck me as more than a coincidence. The 12 Steps, on the other hand, arrived at the beginning of the Second Coming (1933 et seq.).
joel
Englishman's freedom is in his castle
Not so fast Tom!
Does the free spirit not believe she is free from the start? Will this really rather dandy term not just keep the original issue raised by Steiner in situ?
Sorry to dampen things - it is pouring cats and dogs here in Scotland...
John, A naive person starts
John, A naive person starts out under the illusion of freedom. Through a path of introspection, as in POF, they become conscious of the difference between complusions and intuitive impulses. Wearing a free spirit button without knowing what it is would be misunderstood if that is what you mean, but I think that should be obvious.
Asking what would my free spirit do is relevant because most of us are partly free and partly unfree. Asking that question is a reaching up to our "deeper being".
POF 9-11 Whether his unfreedom is forced on him by physical means or by moral laws, whether man is unfree because he follows his unlimited sexual desire or because he is bound by the fetters of conventional morality, is quite immaterial from a certain point of view. Only let us not assert that such a man can rightly call his actions his own, seeing that he is driven to them by a force other than himself. But in the midst of all this framework of compulsion there arise men who establish themselves as free spirits in all the welter of customs, legal codes, religious observances, and so forth. They are free in so far as they obey only themselves, unfree in so far as they submit to control. Which of us can say that he is really free in all his actions? Yet in each of us there dwells a deeper being in which the free man finds expression.
Free Play
Sure Tom, you are right - I have always been a free spirit - just changed the definition to suit myself. : - ) But when my mother called me a free spirit, she used her own definition... e.g. It's no good pretending you're just a free spirit, how are you going to earn your living with eurythmy? Of course she was right because I never have...
Give me no more quotes! Quoting PoF adds no weight to your argument. It is too much like the bible thumpers who mould the quotes to prove their own point, my friend.
I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1802-1882) in Journal May 1849
I am fully aware of the point you have made with the good doctor's 'approval', I am only pointing out the obvious. Anyone who has not read PoF will not get the in joke on the button. Now a button that read Free the spirit I would wear.
What about: How to Free the Human Spirit... Steiner's other How to... book is quite popular I understand.
Society "minder"
John, You have requested that I don't respond to you with Steiner quotes. This is a thread in the Philosophy of Freedom Study Course Development sub-group. We are interested in presenting anthroposophy to the world. A large part of your role on the website has been as sort of an Anthroposophical Society "minder" to defend the Society.
The Society has become an institution that has fallen behind anthroposophy itself. So your role as a representative of the Society can not but hinder our work. As owner of this sub-group I respectfully request you no longer post on the Philosophy of Freedom Study Course Development group discussion threads.
Button
I like the idea of the button!
Perhaps the rose from this website with "What would my free spirit do?" wrapped around it and www.philosophyoffreedom.com on the bottom.
how about...
instead of PoF
title:
"A Reason based Path to the Art of Personal and Direct Spiritual Experience"
subtitle:
" - reproducible experiments in introspection, leading to the discovery of the natural union of science, art and religion - "
second subtitle:
" a re-imagination of Rudolf Steiner's late 19th Century masterpiece in epistemology: The Philosophy of Freedom, also known as The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, whose original subtitle was: "some results of introspection following the methods of natural science"
I would follow this cover page and the inside title page up with an immediate forward, along something like the following lines of thought...
"Modern life is full of ambiguities. Religion and Science seem to be at war with each other. For many, life today is degenerating, a view that has a lot of truth to it.
"Science, for its part, finds Religion unwilling to accept the fundmental tenants of reason, while Religion finds that Science has no connection to the obvious virtues of faith. Both emphasize, to their mutual confusion, just a single aspect of human nature, as if that aspect should dominate. If we look a little deeper, and a bit into the past, we can come upon something that might be an aid to a resolution of the apparent conflict between the two.
"For a long time, it was common to speak, in Western Culture in particular, of truth, beauty and goodness. If we realize that behind these stands certain latent qualities of human nature, we might make the following observations. Truth seems to be most deeply represented in our capacity to reason; Goodness in our capacity for devotion; and, Beauty in our capacity for imagination. Now these capacities do cross-fertilize each other, yet it is primarily the capacity for reason on which Science rests, primarily the capacity for imagination on which Art rests, and primarily devotion that is the capacity on which Religion rests.
"When Religion and Science conflict, they are essentially acting as if one human capacity was primary, and more important than any other. Yet, the individual human being is a whole, not just a one-sided abberation. What is missing in the conflict between Science and Religion then is Art. Art - the imagination out of which beauty arises - is the mediating principle. Both Science and Religion without Art degenerate into what we see today - what are esentially competing fundamentalist world views, both of which are arid and inflexible.
"Art is the emollient - what sooths and makes something supple or less harsh. Each individual human being suffers a similar dysfuction as does modern culture, for we are often taught too much science or too much religion and certainly not enough art.
"At the same time, the fractures of modern life are far too intense for large groups to mollify. Only the individual can find a way to make his soul, his inwardness, his capacities for reason, imagination and devotion, an artistically balanced whole. Where such an individual triumphs over the shadow forces - the dark tendencies we see at work everywhere, and know we too possess - this triumph over the weakness of human nature will lead to healing forces that can benefit us all.
"It was in support of such a cultural transformation, that Rudolf Steiner launched this work into the world, a work he knew would periodically have to be rewritten, for time was moving quite fast, and the language of the late 19th Century in which he cast his ideas, would soon no longer be adequate to the truth. beauty and goodness contained in his original work. As his humble students, we then offer this re-imagination of what to us is the most significant, important and yet overlooked work of genius to arise from the 19th Century.
"We hope the reader will find in what has been thus produced, whatever the flaws and weaknesses it is certain to have, something that will aid them in their own quest for a balanced and human existence."
joel
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