Rudolf Steiner: The Man and His Vision

by Colin Wilson

Of all the important thinkers of the twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) is perhaps the most difficult to come to grips with. For the unprepared reader, his work presents a series of formidable obstacles, from the dauntingly abstract style to the often bizarre pronouncements on the nature of man and his cosmic destiny.

And yet Steiner was perhaps the most influential and charismatic occult philosopher of his generation; and the movement he launched, Anthroposophy, with its educational, agricultural, and artistic applications, still has many thousands of followers worldwide. No one interested in esoteric thought can ignore Steiner, but until now there has been no genuinely accessible introduction to his ideas.

This lucid and sympathetic account describes Steinerâ s development from shy scholar to the international figurehead of Anthroposophy, his break with Madam Blavatskyâ s Theosophy, his struggles to find a voice, and the essence of his insights into the supersensible world.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Occult, Philosophy, Psychology

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Colin Henry Wilson was born and raised in Leicester, England, U.K. He left school at 16, worked in factories and various occupations, and read in his spare time. When Wilson was 24, Gollancz published The Outsider (1956) which examines the role of the social 'outsider' in seminal works of various key literary and cultural figures. These include Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William James, T. E. Lawrence, Vaslav Nijinsky and Vincent Van Gogh and Wilson discusses his perception of Social alienation in their work. The book was a best seller and helped popularize existentialism in Britain. Critical praise though, was short-lived and Wilson was soon widely criticized.

Wilson's works after The Outsider focused on positive aspects of human psychology, such as peak experiences and the narrowness of consciousness. He admired the humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and corresponded with him. Wilson wrote The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff on the life, work and philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff and an accessible introduction to the Greek-Armenian mystic in 1980. He argues throughout his work that the existentialist focus on defeat or nausea is only a partial representation of reality and that there is no particular reason for accepting it. Wilson views normal, everyday consciousness buffeted by the moment, as "blinkered" and argues that it should not be accepted as showing us the truth about reality. This blinkering has some evolutionary advantages in that it stops us from being completely immersed in wonder, or in the huge stream of events, and hence unable to act. However, to live properly we need to access more than this everyday consciousness. Wilson believes that our peak experiences of joy and meaningfulness are as real as our experiences of angst and, since we are more fully alive at these moments, they are more real. These experiences can be cultivated through concentration, paying attention, relaxation and certain types of work.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is probably far from being the definitive Steiner biography its unstuffy readability and regular flashes of remarkable insight make this book a good starting point on the subject.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colin Wilson talks a little about the ideas of Steiner, then a lot about himself and what interests him at any given moment, which should be expected when anybody reads his work. There is a heavy focus on biographical knowledge because, partly, Wilson refuses to be as critical as he should. He likes to tell you about Kafka's experience with Steiner not because it is interesting, though it is, but because he wishes all of his favourite writers and philosophers to be on a similar page. Wilson's worldview is basically one of superconsciousness and peak experiences without any of the metaphysical, ethical or religious implications. He is all experience, bad and good, and no enlightenment. As we mature, we should be harder with negative influences, though not so critical as to forget them... but, on the other hand, there is a lot of worth to Wilson's boyish love of ideas, if only to wake certain people up.

Wilson is a engaging writer, always pushing forward, and he is right about a great deal, but Steiner needs a biographer who can judge him fairly while understanding his greater implications.

[Anthony O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's more Colin Wilson in this book than there is Rudolph Steiner. All of his boyish enthusiasm, trite formulaic writing, and simplistic repetitious ideas. With a few gems here and there. Some information on Steiner. Biographical. Ideas. Practices. The Waldorf/Steiner schools are still going strong and seem to be doing some good. Though how much of their approach is still based on Steiner is open to some doubts.

[Tompof · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will find at the philosophyoffreedom website a free online study course on the “Philosophy of Freedom”. It is Rudolf Steiner's most important work, and the one that will endure the longest, because it describes his path to freedom.

When asked, “What will remain of your work in thousands of years? Steiner replied: “Nothing but the Philosophy of Freedom. When asked which of his books he would most want to see rescued if catastrophe should come upon the world, Steiner replied: “The Philosophy of Freedom”. When a student asked if he could attend Steiner's private esoteric training group, Steiner replied: “You don’t need to! You have understood my Philosophy of Freedom!”