The Philosophy of Freedom
Treasure Quest:
A
Conference in Epistemological Experimentation
- by Tim Nadelle
The Philosophy of Freedom is a treasure
map. In general, we can work with the
map in two ways. Firstly, we can study
the map. We can read it, make notes,
meet in study groups to discuss and deepen our understanding. This first approach to the work is a
necessary and essential precursor to the second approach, which is to set out
to find the treasure.
In the Preface to the revised edition of 1918
of the Philosophy of Freedom, Rudolf Steiner poses questions which can set our hearts
and imaginations on fire. He points over
the horizon, towards a land he has traveled where, for anyone who would take up
the quest, there is treasure in abundance.
He writes (Rita Stebbing translation):
Everything to be discussed in this book centers around
two problems which are fundamental to human soul-life. One of these problems concerns the
possibility of attaining such insight into human nature that knowledge of man can
become the foundation of all human knowledge and experience of life. We often feel that our experiences and the
results of scientific investigations are not self-supporting; further
experiences or discoveries may shake our certitude. The other problem is: Has man any right to
ascribe freedom to his will, or is freedom of will an illusion arising out of
his inability to recognize the threads of necessity on which his will depends,
just like a process in nature?
He goes on to describe the treasure, while
at same time providing some initial practical advice for those who wish to take
up the epistemological journey: [1]
The book will not give a ready-made, self-contained
answer… but will point to a field of experience in which man’s inner soul
activity supplies a living answer to these questions at every moment that he
needs one. Whoever once has discovered
the region of soul where these questions unfold, will find that the very
contemplation of this region gives him all that he needs for the solution of
the two problems.
So at the outset it becomes clear the
treasure is not a series of philosophical proofs we can learn. Neither can we find it merely by immersing
ourselves in the content of the Philosophy of Freedom, no matter how deeply we
study it. Cartography is a preparatory
activity: it can only point out the way. If we wish to take up the knowledge quest, we
need to find that field of experience in which our inner soul activity supplies
living answers to these questions.
Happily, potential soul activities for
exploration jump off virtually every page of the book. However, we need to engage our imaginations
to discover them. In this, the
Philosophy of Freedom diverges from Steiner’s introductory anthroposophical works. In Theosophy, Occult Science, Knowledge of
Higher Worlds – Steiner explicitly
provides the soul activities, the exercises for us to follow. In the Philosophy of Freedom, those
activities are implicit. Each individual finds them himself or
herself.
For example, in chapter three of the
Philosophy, Steiner characterizes the central, elementary soul activity which
will set us firmly along the path, the observation of thinking:
For everyone… who has the ability to observe thinking
– and with good will every normal man has this ability – this observation is
the most important one he can possibly make.
For he observes something of which he himself is the creator; he finds
himself confronted, not by an apparently foreign object, but by his own
activity. He knows how the thing he is
observing comes into being. He sees into
its connections and relationships. A
firm point has now been reached from which one can, with some hope of success,
seek an explanation of all other phenomena of the world.
A natural starting point, therefore, will be
to ask ourselves: How do we go about observing our own thinking? Chapter three (including its “Author’s
addition, 1918”) is in fact, replete with practicable indications for how to go
about doing so. Our way forward shall be
first to understand these indications, then to commence the actual work of observing
our own thinking.
Conference invitation
In October 2015, you are invited to join
with colleagues to take up this quest at a weekend conference to be held in or
near Toronto. Please visit www.philosophyfreedom.ca and leave
your contact information if you would like to receive occasional updates about
the conference agenda and venue.
Over the course of the year, we will be sharing
several thought experiments on the conference website which you might choose to
take up by way of preparation for the conference. (They may even be of interest if you have no
intention of participating in the conference.)
Please visit www.philosophyfreedom.ca
if you wish to have a look at the first of these thought experiments.
The experiments are not destinations; they are possible points of entry along the
path. You might choose to work with one
for a while, modify it for your own needs or discard it altogether and create
something more suited to your own unique direction. The experiments are intended only as creative
provocations for subsequent individual work.
Hope to see you there!
[1] This and all subsequent quotes from the Philosophy of Freedom are
taken from the Michael Wilson translation.
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