Peter
Staudenmaier
The following is a collection of my favorite quotes
from Peter Staudenmaier. All are from public
email lists, and most are from the Anthropsophy
Tomorrow Yahoo Group.
On Objectivity
"I am very critical of the academic realm and the stultifying
conception of objectivity that is so often associated with
it."
February 22nd, 2004
"If you're saying that objectivity is the opposite
of bias and that bias is a bad thing for a historian to
have, then I disagree with you. Bias is often a very good
thing
for a historian to have."
March 6th, 2004
"There is nothing wrong with having a bias..."
March 4th, 2004
"There is nothing wrong with biases."
March 6th,
2004
"Why are you looking for a comprehensive picture of
anything in articles written for a popular audience?"
March 7th, 2004
"My articles on anthroposophy are indeed polemical"
May 2001
"Much of what I write on anthroposophy
is a mixture of scholarship and polemic, addressed to a non-specialist
audience. It is not a neutral reflection on the pros and
cons of Steiner's various doctrines."
February 22nd, 2004
"My published work on
anthroposophy is not objective
in the sense I think you mean, and no competent reader could
mistake it for such..."
February 22nd, 2004
"It is often a good idea to *attempt* a more objective
understanding of a given phenomenon; that is one of the senses
of objectivity that I endorse, as sort of heuristic device.
But I think that people who believe they have *achieved*
a purely objective conception of what Steiner "really
meant" are fooling themselves. "
March 6th, 2004
"I think this argument [understanding the
Anthroposophical worldview on it's own terms] depends on an indefensible notion
of proper 'understanding'."
March 4th, 2004
On His Relationship
to Rudolf Steiner
"Steiner was not a war criminal, a Nazi ideologue,
or an Ariosophist."
February 23rd, 2004
"I do not think that I have anything close to a perfect
view of anthroposophy."
March 4th, 2004
Asked to consider describing the content of a Steiner lecture cycle in such a way that nobody, not even Steiner
himself, could accuse him of not fully understanding
it as the author intended, while at the same time not taking
any position about the contents, Peter Staudenmaier replied:
"That would be an abdication of responsibility"
March 4th, 2004
"Unless you have personal access to an author, it is
frequently a mistake to think that you know what their intended
meaning was."
February 25th, 2004
"Our job is to examine what [Steiner] wrote and said,
not speculate about what he intended."
March 6th, 2004
"Since Steiner is dead, his intentions are no longer
accessible to us."
March 6th, 2004
"I think this argument [understanding the Anthroposophical
worldview on it's own terms] depends on an indefensible notion
of proper 'understanding'."
March 4th, 2004
"I do not ignore the stuff in Steiner that I don't
like..."
March 4th, 2004
"Yes, I wish to claim that I am striving for an honest
understanding of Steiner and Anthroposophy. I'm also striving
for an accurate and meaningful understanding of Steiner
and anthroposophy. I'm also striving for a critical understanding
of Steiner
and anthroposophy. And so forth."
March 6th, 2004
"...what seems important to me is not whether Steiner
was racist as a person, but whether his teachings contain
important racist elements. But I do, as it happens, think
it legitimate to describe Steiner as a racist."
February 22nd, 2004
"It is entirely backwards, in my view, to first decide
what you think 'Steiner's main points' were, and then slot
his specific statements about race into that pre-fabricated
construct. "
March 6th, 2004
"Rudolf Steiner was certainly not a Nazi..."
February 22nd, 2004
On
Selective Quotation
"Selective quotation is only a bad idea when others
do not have access to the original."
March 4th,
2004
"Once again: the distorting kind of selectivity is
only a problem when others do not have access to the original."
March 6th,
2004
"Misquoting somebody generally means to quote them
inaccurately, that is, to attribute to them words that they
did not say or write."
March 6th,
2004
"I didn't misquote you."
March 5th,
2004
"I don't work by implication."
March 6th,
2004
On
Anti-Semitism
"I do not know of any anthroposophists who actively
took part in the genocide of European Jewry. Steiner's own
views on Jews were very different from those of the architects
of the holocaust."
March 2nd, 2004
"The label "anti-Semite" can indeed be stigmatizing
when it is accurate. When it is inaccurate, no, I don't think
it has a stigmatizing effect."
March 6th, 2004
"I do not believe that antisemitism is the consequence
of pro-assimilationism."
February 23rd, 2004
Other Topics
"I think what you and I really disagree about on this
score is what counts as comprehensive and thorough."
March 10th, 2004
"I think perhaps we disagree about what counts as respectful
discourse."
March 5th,
2004
"I do not think that I have anything close to a perfect
view of anthroposophy."
March 4th,
2004
Accused of projecting a posture of neutrality in his articles:
"That's ridiculous. All of my articles make abundantly
clear that I am a critic of anthroposophy."
March 7th,
2004
"I don't think it's possible to read a text without
making at least some assumptions about it."
February 25th, 2004
"...there is
no doubt that any interpretation of a complex body of ideas
is bound to be affected by the life experience of the interpreter."
February 22nd, 2004
|
