A Road to Sacred Creation

Rudolf Steiner's Perspectives on Technology

by Rudolf SteinerEdited by Gary LambIntroduction and notes by Gary LambDrawings by Michael Howard

ISBN: 9781621482611
Publication Date: August 3rd 2021

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“Rudolf Steiner’s perspectives on technology are manifold and prophetic. He not only critiqued the technology of his day, but foretold new forms of technology that would inevitably arise, technologies that would be connected to the makers’ very attitudes of soul, either the good or bad within them—in other words, their deepest motivations. How we, as evolving human beings, approach technology and its development will be instrumental in determining how ultimately human evolution will turn out. Our future as human beings and the future of technology are intimately connected.” — Gary Lamb

Illuminating, compelling, challenging, at times staggering in its breadth, A Road to Sacred Creation is above all the definitive text for gaining a hold on Rudolf Steiner’s nuanced perspectives on technology. Charting both an inner and outer course—part pilgrimage toward greater perception and knowledge, part dramatic, unfolding plot line of the future of humans and machines, the metaphoric “road” of the title is exactly where humanity finds itself today, though the exact route and destination are still to be determined. The map is not yet drawn, but here is a beginning.

Taken together, the relevant concepts, ideas, and insights of Steiner—deftly brought into sequence and dialogue as the editor has done in this book—reveal how the work to arrive at a more spiritually imbued technological future not only involves all domains and fields of spiritual science and anthroposophic work, but has its origins in the very core of our being, fundamentally entwined with our moral progress toward freedom and selfless love.

Book Details

Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781621482611
Pages: 392
Trim Size: 6 (w) x 9 (h) x 0 (d) in
Publication Date: August 3rd 2021
Publisher: SteinerBooks

More About the Book

Table of contents

C O N T E N T S:

Preface: How I Came to Edit this Compendium
Editor’s Note: Intention
Introduction by Gary Lamb

1: The Evolution of Science
• A Critique of Materialistic Science up to the Early Twentieth Century
• Goethean Science
• Spiritual Science

2: Atoms and Atomic Theories
• Critique of Nineteenth-Century Atomic Theory
• The Need for a Spiritual-Scientific Perspective
• Taking a Phenomenological Approach to Atomic Theories
• Atoms, Electricity, and Thought
• Cosmic and Terrestrial Effects
• Central and Cosmic Forces
• Imaginative Cognition and the Ultimate Transformation of the Mineral World

3: Electricity and the Challenge of Evil
• The Human Spirit, Cultural Life, and Thinking
• Electricity, Consciousness, and Morality
• Instincts, Morality, and Evil
• Sun Forces, Decayed Light, Subnature, and Electromagnetic Forces
• Electricity, Health and Illness, and Healing
• Meeting and Employing Electricity in Creative Ways

4: Early Twentieth-Century Technology
• Harmonizing Technology and Machines with the Human Spirit
• Transportation: Cars, Trains, and Ships
• Communications
• Media: Newspapers and the Radio
• The Cinema (Movies), Slides, and Photographs
• Gramophones and Calculators

5: Keely, Strader, and the Development of Etheric Technology
• Aspects in the Evolution of Technology
• The Work of John Worrell Keely
• Potential Dangers of Technology Development Driven by Instinct or Egotism
• The Character of Dr. Strader in Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas
• Comments by Rudolf Steiner’s Contemporaries about Keely and Etheric Technology

6: Transcending Private Capitalism and Socialism
• Earth Evolution, Technology, Altruism, and Egotism in Relation to Private Capitalism
• Egotism, Altruism, and the Fundamental Social Law
• Individualism, Human Relations, and Nurturing Interest in Others
• The Threefold Social Organism
• From Private Capital to Community Assets
• Economy and Culture
• Summation

7: Child Development
• Teaching in the Modern Age of Technology
• Children as Spiritual Beings, Teaching as a Sacred Activity
• Freedom to Teach, Freedom to Learn
• Understanding the Nature of the Human Being . . .
• From Birth to the Change of Teeth around Seven Years of Age
• Lower School, Grades 1–8
• High School Years

8: Ahriman’s Pervasive Influence in the Age of Modern Technology
• Characteristics and Influences of Ahriman and Lucifer
• Comprehending and Meeting the Challenges of Ahriman and Lucifer
• Lies and Temptations, Effects vs. Facts
• Ahriman and Lucifer as Collaborators, Opponents, and Alternating Powers
• Contrasting Influences of Ahriman and Lucifer in Art
• The Incarnation of Ahriman: Preparations, Influences, and Trends

9: Thinking as a Spiritual Activity
• The Nature of Thinking
• Inner Development and Higher Levels of Thinking

Appendix A: Earth Evolution Illustrations
Appendix B: Publishers Referenced in this Volume

Bibliography

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