I'm reading a recent book called "The Lucifer Effect" by Philip Zimbardo, who carried out a well-known experiment called the "Stanford Prison Experiment" in the early 1970s.  See  http://www.zimbardo.com/current.html for more details.  To quote from that site:

The Lucifer Effect raises a fundamental question about the nature of human nature: How is it possible for ordinary, average, even good people to become perpetrators of evil? In trying to understand unusual, weird or aberrant behavior, we often err in focusing exclusively on the inner determinants of genes, personality and character, as we also tend to ignore what may be the critical catalyst for behavior change in the external Situation or in the System that creates and maintains such situations.

After narrating his experiences during the running of the Stanford Prison Experiment, he spends a lot of time discussing its connection to other situations including the recent well-publicised Abu Ghraib prison abuses.

I find it interesting that this book reflects the perspective of an academic of long experience in experimental psychology with no interest in or familarity with Anthroposophy - he seems familiar with mainstream Christian and English literature, twentieth century existentialism etc. but if you look at the index you will find no reference to Jung or Freud, let alone Steiner or Goethe.  Literary quotes are usually taken from John Milton (of all people), Dante or twentieth century authors.  Yet I think he comes to a very similar standpoint to Steiner in the Philosophy of Freedom - that both external and internal determinants make us unfree, make us "evil" or potentially "evil".  And it may be that someone who appears "good" could just as well become "evil" if the right external conditions were brought to bear.

Again, Friedrich Nietzsche, who had so much to say on the topic of so-called Good and Evil, and whose spiritual striving Steiner felt so close to in one sense (see for example "Friedrich Nietzsche, Fighter for Freedom" http://wn.rsarchive.org/Books/GA005/English/GC1985/GA005_index.html for more details), is not even mentioned.  But I believe I can almost hear things in line with something of the spirit of Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil", for example, in some of what is said in the Zimbardo book.

I haven't finished the book properly yet (it's quite long) but Zimbardo does finish on a positive note that again seems to be to be in fundamental agreement with the tone of all of Steiner's work and especially the Philosophy of Freedom - the last chapter is entitled "Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism".  And I think Nietzsche's Zarathustra might breath a sigh of relief also that others are striving towards his mountaintop.

Again, all this leads me to think along with others here on this website that it is the Philosophy of Freedom that is still the most contemporary of Steiner's works.  While personally I find all of Steiner's works wonderful, I can understand that someone like Prof. Zimbardo, with all of his own gathered wisdom and life experience and with his prominent position in the mainstream psychological community, would be unlikely to find much of interest in "Occult Science", for example, let alone be able to make reference to it in a work like "The Lucifer Effect" (despite the remarkable synchronicity of the title!).  --end