Daniel's Musings: April 2004 Archives

Rudolf Steiner had some interesting views on the relationship of Anthroposophy to the methods of propaganda.

"Anthroposophy - for this very reason - cannot find its way through the world by ordinary agitation or propaganda, no matter how well meant. Agitation kills true Anthroposophy. Anthroposophy must come forward because the Spirit impels it to come forward. It must show forth its life because life cannot but reveal itself in existence. But it must never force its existence upon people. Waiting always for those to come who want it, it must be far removed from all constraint even the constraint of persuasion."

Rudolf Steiner, "The Life, Nature and Cultivation of Anthroposophy." Rudolf Steiner Press: London, 1963, page 17.

The professional skeptic makes an interesting study. A little skepticism is generally a healthy thing in this day and age. For most self-identified skeptics, it is the mood of skepticism, which borders on the cynical, that they seem to identify most strongly with. It is out of a mood that their thinking operates. The problem is that their thinking is not consistent. If skepticism is taken to it's logical extreme, it ends in nihilism or the thinker goes through the zero-point of epistemological uncertainty and comes out the other side. The professional skeptic, however, refuses to take the plunge, and circles aimlessly and illogically, spouting off cynically on every subject that catches his or her fancy. Skepticism becomes a lifestyle, not a philosophy. When such a "skeptic" encounters Anthroposophy the commentary teeters between the inane and the moronic.