Goethean Science

Goethean Science: Introductions to Goethe’s Natural–Scientific Writings

Written in 1883 (CW 1)

This book is a cornerstone of the foundations of anthroposophy. Consider this famous passage from it:

“Inasmuch as thinking takes possession of the idea, thinking fuses with the primal ground of world-existence; what is at work outside enters into the spirit of man: He becomes one with objective reality in its highest potency. Becoming aware of the idea within reality is the true communion of man.” -Rudolf Steiner

Goethean Science features Rudolf Steiner’s introductions to Goethe’s works, re-visioning the meaning of knowledge and how we attain it. Goethe had discovered how thinking could be applied to organic nature and that this experience requires not just rational concepts but a whole new way of perceiving.

At the youthful age of twenty-one, Steiner was chosen to edit Goethe’s scientific writings for the principle Geothe edition of his time. Goethe’s literary genius was universally acknowledged; it was Steiner’s task to understand and comment on Goethe’s scientific achievements. Steiner recognized the significance of Goethe’s work with nature and his epistemology, and here began Steiner’s own training in epistemology and spiritual science.

In an age when science and technology have been linked to great catastrophes, many are looking for new ways to interact with nature. With a fundamental declaration of the interpenetration of our consciousness and the world around us, Steiner shows how Goethe’s approach points the way to a more compassionate and intimate involvement with nature.

Content

1. Introduction

2. How Goethe’s Theory of Metamorphosis Arose

3. How Goethe’s Thoughts on the Development of the Animals Arose

4. The Nature and Significance of Goethe’s Writings on Organic Development

5. Concluding Remarks on Goethe’s Morphological Views

6. Goethe’s Way of Knowledge

7. The Arrangement of Goethe’s Natural-scientific Writings

8. From Art to Science

9. Goethe’s Epistemology

10. Knowing and Human Action in the Light of the Goethean Way of Thinking

11. Relationship of Goethean Way of Thinking to Other Views

12. Goethe and Mathematics

13. Goethe’s Basic Geological Principle

14. Goethe’s Meteorological Conceptions

15. Goethe and Natural-scientific Illusionism

16. Goethe as Thinker and Investigator

17. Goethe Against Atomism

18. Goethe’s World View in his Aphorisms in Prose

Notes

About the Author

Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up. As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe’s scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner’s multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland.