Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy for Beginners

Writers & Readers Documentary Comic Book #92

by Lía Tummer, Horacio Lato (Illustrator)

At the dawn of the twentieth century, Rudolf Steiner created Anthroposophy, the "spiritual science" that opposes the blindly science-believing, materialistic ideology inherited from the previous century. Based on a profound knowledge of the human being and his relationship with nature and the universe, Anthroposophy has not only been able to provide renewing impulses to the most diverse spheres of human activity, like medicine, education, agriculture, art, religion, etc., but is also capable of providing answers to the eternal questions posed by mankind, towards which 'natural sciences' remain what is life? where do we come from when we are born? where do we go when we die? what sense has pain and illness? why does some people's destiny seem unjust? Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy for Beginners describes this universal genius' solitary growth from a childhood in the untamed beauty of the Austrian Alps to the sublimities of human wisdom.

Genres: Philosophy

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2000

Reviews

[Clari Vita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creo que cumple su cometido: al terminar de leerlo uno puede quedarse con una idea bastante general y simplificada sobre qué es la antroposofía y qué hizo Rudolf Steiner.

[Ines · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised to find that this book is written as a kind of graphic novel, with many examples of thought expressed in conversations between characters, plus many concepts represented in a way which makes them more accessible to the casual reader.

The content provides a good background of his life and work, his early exposure to & relationships with some leading philosophers of the time & his work with the Theosophical Society. Later it explains the concepts behind his work for social reform, the Steiner methods for teaching & the establishment of the Waldorf method.

It breaks down his principal beliefs & shows that, although he had many good things to say about his contemporaries, he did not necassarily agree with them or follow their beliefs. His work is based on self discovered concepts that he then tested in various situations. As such it can be said that he was a true scientist, making empirical observations and was blending this 'firsthand knowledge' with a profound spirituality. In fact, this is the meaning of the word 'anthroposophy' - human experience providing the bedrock for a philosophy for life, though he didn't invent the phrase, he certainly explored it as a concept his entire life.

I would recommend this book for any students of Philosophy, teachers interested in the Waldorf-Steiner schooling methods & others interested in the origins of modern natural sciences and modern spirituality.

[Biblioteca de evocaciones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una de las grandes sorpresas del año. Este libro introduce al lector en la obra de Rudolf Steiner, un pensador y místico alemán de principios del siglo XX, fundador de la antroposofía, pseudociencia teórica que conllevó una enorme tarea social en la Alemania de esas décadas tan complicadas para Europa. Si bien sus postulados teóricos no pueden ser comprobados, es su tarea pedagógica y artística aquella en la que mayores logros ha tenido ya sea con la fundación de la primera escuela de su país en donde niños y niñas compartían aulas y la creación de nuevas formas estéticas de expresión. Algunos temas más sombríos incluyen una medicina no científica y una muy interesante cosmovisión que sitúa en el mismo plano al ser humano, los animales, plantas, objetos y astros, y que responde a los principales interrogantes de la humanidad tales como "¿De dónde venimos antes de nacer y hacia dónde vamos al morir?". Como si fuera un Aristóteles del siglo pasado, todo queda explicado en un haz de relaciones llenas de sentido. Si bien estas explicaciones no tienen una comprobación científica (Steiner dice haber tenido desde niño revelaciones extrasensoriales), el libro las relata de una manera muy clara, no subestimando nunca al lector y dejándolo que él mismo decida qué creer y qué no (que es lo que el mismo creador de la antroposofía pregonaba). Al principio tiene una buena reseña biográfica de la vida del personaje principal del libro y en general, es uno de los mejores "Para principiantes" que he leído. A pesar de no compartir creencias con Rudolf Steiner, me llevo muchas cosas de aquí.

[Ben Stroup · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reads like a chick tract. Doesn't go into any detail of steiner's philosophy at all, just a hagiography with cruddy drawings of human beings transforming into higher beings that recall a head shop mural. Look elsewhere for Steiner stuff.