From German Idealism to Anthroposophy: The Spiritual Scientist Podcast

Mick Young invited me on his Spiritual Scientist podcast to discuss the importance of German Idealism in Rudolf Steiner’s development.

I introduce the concept of ‘etheric imagination’ as a form of cognition by which we can consciously participate in the formative forces responsible for generating living organisms, including our own bodies. Participating in these etheric formative forces doesn’t mean we can then create life ourselves, but it does mean we can perceive that aspect of living organisms that is irreducible both to the mineral surfaces revealed by our physical eyes, and to the abstract mechanical concepts often used by natural scientists to model their activity. I believe that human beings are caught up in an evolution of consciousness, and that the development and cultivation of these new organs of perception is part of the task we are currently faced with.

I introduce the philosophy of Hegel as a vital stepping stone in this journey, noting that anyone who thinks they have a more complete philosophy is almost certainly fooling themselves. However, philosophy alone isn’t enough; other methods are needed to go beyond where Hegel leaves off.

Hegel’s philosophy is laborious, requiring that we submit to a painful kind of death-rebirth process in our thinking life to truly understand it. Hegel’s logic can be understood as a prerequisite for going beyond physical sense-bound reflection into the spiritual world, initially by way of moral intuitions and imaginations (as described in Steiner’s book Philosophy of Freedom).

The conversation then shifts to the contemporary struggle for truth. Many people are yearning for it, especially in light of recent world events. There is a growing frustration with the lack of truth in the manufactured culture industry of the dominant media outlets, leading to a searching feeling that often hits a wall, causing disillusionment and a sense of meaninglessness and nihilism, religious dogmatism, or conspiratorial obsessiveness.

I tried to spell out how Hegel thinks about truth as a historical process, borrowing Goethe’s study of plant metamorphosis as an analogy for the evolution of consciousness. I then introduce the Christ event and Christ impulse, which brings a moral dimension to the quest for truth. This impulse potentially allows us to transcend our individual bodily death and is essential for furthering the course of human evolution. I emphasize here that I’m not attached to the name “Christ” and that this being could be described differently in various cultural contexts. The point is not what we call it but whether we acknowledge it and how we act in relation to it. Without this guiding impulse of Love, materialistic ideologies like nationalism and racism will continue to stir up conflict and fragmentation.