Was Steiner Intentionally
Anti-Semetic?

Peter Staudenmaier (February 24th, 2004):
"Nobody here says that Steiner intended anything antisemitic in the 1888 article."

Daniel Hindes (February 24th, 2004):
Didn't you offer this article in your very first post as an example of Steiner's early anti-Semitic views? Or do you mean that, while Steiner didn't intend it to be anti-Semitic, it nonetheless qualifies because it's assimilationist suggestions are tantamount to a "soft" kind of anti-Semitism.

Peter Staudenmaier (February 24th, 2004):
Hi Daniel, you asked:
"Didn't you offer this article in your very first post as an example of Steiner's early anti-Semitic views?"
Yes, indeed I did. In one of my replies to Dottie, or Mike, or somebody, I quoted a crucial passage from a famous article by Shulamit Volkov about the importance of distinguishing motives and intentions, on the one hand, from the cultural dynamics at work, on the other, when analyzing antisemitic ideology. There are lots of similar passages in works by other historians. It's a common theme in the literature.
"Or do you mean that, while Steiner didn't intend it to be anti-Semitic, it nonetheless qualifies because it's assimilationist suggestions are tantamount to a "soft" kind of anti-Semitism?"
That is close to my argument, but one of the central parts is wrong: it is not Steiner's "assimilationist suggestions" that make the passage antisemitic, in my view. It was entirely possible for non-Jews to make assimilationist suggestions in Vienna in 1888 without thereby participating in antisemitic discourse. I am sorry that I still have not succeeded in conveying my perspective on assimilationist antisemitism versus assimilationist philosemitism, and I will try to find a chance to re-state my argument again soon.