As we've had recent threads on free will and freedom, i was reminded of the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Steiner developed his own philosophy/religion/way of life called anthroposophy:
"Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge to guide the Spirit of the human being to the Spiritual in the universe. It arises in man as a need of the heart, of the life of feeling: and it can be justified inasmuch as it can satisfy this inner need."
Yet, Steiner tackled the idea of freedom and free will in his Philosophy of Freedom, in which, he attempted to unite "freedom of thought" and "freedom of action". Inner freedom he states, is achieved when we bridge the gap between our sensory impressions--which reflect the outer appearance of the world--and our thoughts, which give us access to the inner nature of the world. Outer freedom is attained by permeating our deeds with moral imagination. Steiner then goes on to show that these two aspects of inner and outer freedom are integral to one another, and that true freedom is only achieved when they are united. Essentially he tried to overcome Kant and Descartes.
In essence, Steiner's philosophy lies between Western philosophy's emphasis on freedom as an absence of restraint preventing us from doing and thinking whatever we want (cf. Hume and Locke) and Eastern philosophy's emphasis on freedom being achieved through a withdrawal from the constraints of outer existence, through pure inner contemplation. The Philosophy of Freedom connects the freedom of our inner life (as moral imagination) with freedom in outer life (as deeds done for their own sake, out of love); the two become interdependent aspects of our striving for freedom.
What say thee on these ideas? Does Steiner's unity work in regards to freedom/free will?
(Pardon my rather liberal paraphrasing from the ever-reliable--haha--wikipedia, but I forgot most of the details of old Steiner, and wasnt about to write a essay from scratch explaining his ideas).
"Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge to guide the Spirit of the human being to the Spiritual in the universe. It arises in man as a need of the heart, of the life of feeling: and it can be justified inasmuch as it can satisfy this inner need."
Yet, Steiner tackled the idea of freedom and free will in his Philosophy of Freedom, in which, he attempted to unite "freedom of thought" and "freedom of action". Inner freedom he states, is achieved when we bridge the gap between our sensory impressions--which reflect the outer appearance of the world--and our thoughts, which give us access to the inner nature of the world. Outer freedom is attained by permeating our deeds with moral imagination. Steiner then goes on to show that these two aspects of inner and outer freedom are integral to one another, and that true freedom is only achieved when they are united. Essentially he tried to overcome Kant and Descartes.
In essence, Steiner's philosophy lies between Western philosophy's emphasis on freedom as an absence of restraint preventing us from doing and thinking whatever we want (cf. Hume and Locke) and Eastern philosophy's emphasis on freedom being achieved through a withdrawal from the constraints of outer existence, through pure inner contemplation. The Philosophy of Freedom connects the freedom of our inner life (as moral imagination) with freedom in outer life (as deeds done for their own sake, out of love); the two become interdependent aspects of our striving for freedom.
What say thee on these ideas? Does Steiner's unity work in regards to freedom/free will?
(Pardon my rather liberal paraphrasing from the ever-reliable--haha--wikipedia, but I forgot most of the details of old Steiner, and wasnt about to write a essay from scratch explaining his ideas).
