Die Philosophie der Freiheit

By Rudolf Steiner

Book Overview

Written in 1894 (CW 4)

"The realms of life are many. For each, specific sciences develop. But life itself is a unity, and the more the sciences busily immerse themselves in separate realms, the farther they move away from seeing the living wholeness of the world. There must be a kind of knowing that seeks, in the separate sciences, the elements that lead human beings back to full life again. A scientific specialist wants to become aware of the world and how it works through his or her insights. In this book, the goal is philosophical: science itself is to become organically alive. The separate sciences are preludes to the science attempted here." -- Rudolf Steiner (preface to the 1st edition)

Of all of his works, Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path (Die Philosophie der Freiheit) is the one that Steiner himself believed would have the longest life and the greatest spiritual and cultural consequences. It was written as a phenomenological account of the "results of observing the human soul according to the methods of natural science.

This seminal work asserts that free spiritual activity--understood as the human ability to think and act independently of physical nature--is the suitable path for human beings today to gain true knowledge of themselves and of the universe. This is not merely a philosophical volume, but rather a warm, heart-oriented guide to the practice and experience of living thinking.

Readers will not find abstract philosophy here, but a step-by-step account of how a person may come to experience living, intuitive thinking--"the conscious experience of a purely spiritual content."

During the past hundred years since it was written, many have tried to discover this "new thinking" that could help us understand the various spiritual, ecological, social, political, and philosophical issues facing us. But only Rudolf Steiner laid out a path that leads from ordinary thinking to the level of pure spiritual activity--intuitive thinking--in which we become co-creators and co-redeemers of the world.

"When, with the help of Steiner's book, we recognize that thinking is an essentially spiritual activity, we discover that it can school us. In that sense--Steiner's sense--thinking is a spiritual path." -- Gertrude Reif Hughes

This volume is arguably the most essential of Steiner's works. The thoughts in this book establish the foundation for all of Anthroposophy.

Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path is a translation from German of Die Philosophie der Freiheit (GA 4).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 088010385X
• ISBN13: 9780880103855
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: Steiner Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

It's Steiner

I personally cannot bear to read Rudolph Steiner. He writes like a german philosopher -- encapsulating concepts in so many words that one is more likely to give up than to get to the crux of the biscuit. However the ideas are interesting and if you can bear the writing style, you will likely find the book fascinating.

What kind of review?

Are there words to be found for this book? I wish courage to all those who want to give it a try and read it. Life gets different after the experience...

A Philosophy of Spiritual Activity

This is a new translation of Rudolf Steiner's most important work. It has an especially good introduction by Gertrude Hughes Reif. However, I preferred the two older titles: "Philosophy of Freedom" and "Philosophy of Spiritual Activity" because the significance of the experience of the book comes across better for me with those titles. This is not a book that can be "read" in the usual sense. It must be worked on because it forces you to think about your own thinking. Through this difficult process you yourself discover your spiritual self, your "I" being. This book should be the most important book of the last 100 years, but it hasn't been because there are not many people who want to discover themselves. That is too fearful and difficult. It is much easier to be asleep or to belong to a religion or to have a guru. For anyone who is brave and courageous about "Know Thyself!" this is THE book.

Ever wondered how you KNOW anything?

Perhaps one of the most significant questions you can ask in your life: How can I know anything? How can I feel sure that what I hold as the basis for reality has any reality at all? These and other significant life questions are worked through in this remarkable philosophical work. Be prepared to do your own work as you follow the intuitive path that has been carefully outlined by Rudolf Steiner. The careful reader will find few books more deeply satisfying. I have returned to re-read it many times.