An Outline of Esoteric Science: (CW 13) (Classics in Anthroposophy)

Thanks for getting it to me quickly! It was in time for my Tuesday night book study!! :-)

Well written book about the worlds we can't see. A guide to becoming a more evolved human being. A nice book to read during these troubled times. Rudolf Steiner is the founder of Biodynamic gardening and waldorf schools. An amazing man who died in 1924, but whose works are still very pertinent.

Steiner is Awesome. I recommend Rudolf Steiner to everyone that likes abstraction.

Interesting but outmoded

Great introduction to Rudolf Steiner works.

I read an old translation years ago. It was hard to understand. This translation is much clearer. I'm glad I got it.

I am currently reading this in a Waldorf Teacher training class. I am finding it easier to read then some of his other books like "Theosophy". If your interested in learning more about Anthroposophy I highly recommend this book.

This book is a thought-challenging read, and valuable as part of study of his ideas in which I'm currently involved. A nice publication

An Outline of Esoteric Science. First oublished in 1910 here translated from the German by Catherine E Creeger, 1997. (435 pages including a 3-page list of works by Steiner for further reading.)I just happen to own German ancestry from four generations back. Unfortunately I do not have to hand the original German texts and I live in a remote part of the UK not accessible to a library containing a Steiner section.I give this preamble in an attempt to assure readers of my reviews of Steiner's works that I do my level best to truly represent him.To continue with the review:Back cover, a direct translation from Steiner himself: "Esoteric Science is the science of what takes place esoterically in the sense that it is perceived, not outside in nature but where one's soul turns when it directs its inner being to the spirit. Esoteric science is the opposite and counterpart of natural science."Here straight away we face the difficulties from translation: "opposite and counterpart" could be taken as a contradiction in terms (as are "esoteric" and "science"). Indeed, is this so-called esoteric science compatible with natural science in any way? The impression I have from the many texts in translation I have studied is that Steiner is not accurate in assigning the word science to his deliberations. He may well have trained in scientific areas but his mature works have wandered far from the disciplines owned by science.There is a publisher's note following a seven page Steiner Preface: "An index has not been included because it proved to be unfeasible for the text. As a resource for further study it has been decided to subsequently publish a separate 'study guide'."This 127 page guide, authored by Clopper Almon, was published in 1998 and is likewise without an index.It is difficult to take on board the reason given for the exclusion of an index in either book. I have myself compiled indexes for books larger and more complex than "An Outline of Esoteric Science"The book under review has a six-page introduction by Clopper Almon. (Professor of economics at the University of Maryland.) Here from the final paragraph we have: "Why should one bother with all this science of the unseen? If what is seen makes perfect sense to you as you see it, then this book is not for you. But if life is full of unanswered questions, such as: Where did we come from? How can we grow inwardly? Why is there suffering? Why joy? Why birth? Why death? —then this book will have meaning for you, just as it has meaning for me."The second sentence from the quote above reads like a true economist. (I have to admit to finding the degree of B.Sc. (Econ) a little puzzling; but then Ph.Ds now flow like water with few of the recipients having any real acquaintance with philosophy.)I think enough has been said already for the reader to decide whether or not these texts deserve their undivided attention. Out of loyalty to my students, who requested these reviews, I have spent many hours of concentrated reading in an attempt to come to terms with Steiner's, Utopian endeavours. One question kept occurring to me through all this juggling with words, namely did Steiner have a sense of humour?I should like to end with a quote from Stella Gibbons's, "Cold Comfort Farm" (1932).Flora thought of The Higher Common Sense, by the Abbé Fausse-Maigre. This work had been written as a philosophic treatise; it was an attempt, not to explain the Universe, but to reconcile man to its inexplicability.And . . .Life!Each life owns a past,with a destiny peculiar to each,however brief that life may be;and those of us who live long enoughto ponder life's mysteries,please do so in full humility.JCV (from the collection “Behind the Door” 2017)

Very good translation

A must have book for people who want to know about esoteric science