11 in 13 volumes available, 5 in 6 volumes in preparation
This critical edition of Rudolf Steiner's writings offers the basic texts of anthroposophy, probably the most important esoteric movement of the 20th century, in a critical edition for the first time. Steiner's central writings are traced in their textual development through the various new editions, contextualized within the framework of Steiner's intellectual biography and made comprehensively transparent with regard to their sources and references. This sets a new editorial standard for Steiner's written work.
and the reading edition of the work by Rudolf Steiner Verlag
The Writings section comprises the texts written by Steiner, i.e. the independent works (volumes 1-28), the collected essays (29-37), the letters (38) and the written legacy (40-49).
By far the largest part of the Complete Edition is based on Steiner's work as a lecturer, i.e. on the spoken word. Rudolf Steiner always gave his lectures freely. What has come down to us from the lectures, apart from a few sketches and drafts in notebooks, are initially only the stenographic or longhand transcripts of attentive listeners. Based on these notes, internal manuscript prints of the lecture cycles were produced during Steiner's lifetime, intended solely for members. Steiner later employed a professional stenographer to ensure the quality of the lecture notes and thus the printing of the lecture cycles; however, he did not have the time to review and correct these lecture publications himself. The fifty printed cycles and the shorthand notes and shorthand transcriptions available in the Rudolf Steiner Archive, whose written editing was only authorized by the lecturer himself in very few cases, form the basis for the edition of over 300 volumes in the Complete Edition - an editorial situation that is probably unique worldwide. Steiner himself made a clear distinction between the value of the spoken word and that of the written word: "I would have preferred the spoken word to remain the spoken word. But the members wanted the courses to be printed privately. And that's how it came about. If I had had time to correct things, the restriction 'for members only' would not have been necessary from the outset. [...] Anyone who wants to follow my own inner struggle and work to place anthroposophy before the consciousness of the present time must do so on the basis of the generally published writings." ("The course of my life")
You bypass Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy. Anthroposophy provides the most comprehensive narrative about how an individual human being relates to everything else around them. Anthroposophy is practical for life. Schools, agriculture, medicine, special education, banks worldwide show this. Which of the people mentioned above has had such an impact in such a short time?
My question would be: has Steiner written a macro-historical book, a history of the world, that would warrant his place in this specific bibliography, independently of the larger role you point to ?
Thanks, Michel. I'd also add to the list a look at the internal evolution of human consciousness/being-in-society: Merlin Donald's "A Mind So Rare" and "Origins of the Modern Mind". No doubt Wilber would call these an external view of the internal but that's our situation.
Thanks! I've done a huge amount of reading for my forthcomig book on The Economics of Kindness: Moving from a Selfish Economy to a Cooperative Economy. I currently view human history in four phases:
First Era from a million to 300,000 years ago - The First Era of Domination. Alpha males, etc
Second Era - 300,000 to 5,000 years ago: The First Era of Cooperation. Hunter gatherers and then cooperative achievement societies.
Third Era: The Second Era of Domination. Warlords, tyrants, Kings and Priests
Fourth Era: 1850s to the Future: The Second Era of Cooperation, starting with the first cooperatives, leading to the end of capitalism.
Great material! I'd like to add books that start before 5,000 BC, since that is also the beginning of the colonization of Indigenous hunter-gatherer people all around the world. Lots to offer, so here are just three:
Christopher Boehm - Moral Origins - The Evolution of Victur, Altruism and Shame
Kent Flannery & Joyce Murray: The Creation of Inequality: How our Prehistoric Ancestors Set the Stage for Monarcy, Slavery and Empire
James Scott: Against the Grain: A deep History of the Earliest States
Wonderful!! Thank you very much for this list. I'm already familiar with quite a few of these works and am looking forward to exploring others on the list.
I would also suggest adding to this list the profoundly important work of Dr. Glenn T. Martin. For example:
Well it is not a single book. We talk about several hundreds.
Rudolf Steiner: Writings. Critical edition
Published by Christian Clement.
https://www.frommann-holzboog.de/editionen/127
11 in 13 volumes available, 5 in 6 volumes in preparation
This critical edition of Rudolf Steiner's writings offers the basic texts of anthroposophy, probably the most important esoteric movement of the 20th century, in a critical edition for the first time. Steiner's central writings are traced in their textual development through the various new editions, contextualized within the framework of Steiner's intellectual biography and made comprehensively transparent with regard to their sources and references. This sets a new editorial standard for Steiner's written work.
and the reading edition of the work by Rudolf Steiner Verlag
The Writings section comprises the texts written by Steiner, i.e. the independent works (volumes 1-28), the collected essays (29-37), the letters (38) and the written legacy (40-49).
By far the largest part of the Complete Edition is based on Steiner's work as a lecturer, i.e. on the spoken word. Rudolf Steiner always gave his lectures freely. What has come down to us from the lectures, apart from a few sketches and drafts in notebooks, are initially only the stenographic or longhand transcripts of attentive listeners. Based on these notes, internal manuscript prints of the lecture cycles were produced during Steiner's lifetime, intended solely for members. Steiner later employed a professional stenographer to ensure the quality of the lecture notes and thus the printing of the lecture cycles; however, he did not have the time to review and correct these lecture publications himself. The fifty printed cycles and the shorthand notes and shorthand transcriptions available in the Rudolf Steiner Archive, whose written editing was only authorized by the lecturer himself in very few cases, form the basis for the edition of over 300 volumes in the Complete Edition - an editorial situation that is probably unique worldwide. Steiner himself made a clear distinction between the value of the spoken word and that of the written word: "I would have preferred the spoken word to remain the spoken word. But the members wanted the courses to be printed privately. And that's how it came about. If I had had time to correct things, the restriction 'for members only' would not have been necessary from the outset. [...] Anyone who wants to follow my own inner struggle and work to place anthroposophy before the consciousness of the present time must do so on the basis of the generally published writings." ("The course of my life")
Thank you. I was just recommended Gigi Young's introductions as well.
You bypass Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy. Anthroposophy provides the most comprehensive narrative about how an individual human being relates to everything else around them. Anthroposophy is practical for life. Schools, agriculture, medicine, special education, banks worldwide show this. Which of the people mentioned above has had such an impact in such a short time?
Good point, I am somewhat familiar with Steiner, as one of my children went to Waldorf; however, is there any specific macro-historical book that you would recommend. I do have him listed in my fuller bibliography in the wiki, https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/Thematic_Approaches_on_Civilizational_History#Rudolf_Steiner
The english Texts are here:
https://rsarchive.org/Books/
I will be off in some minutes for a weekend-meeting, so I keep it that short for now.
If You have a specific question - I will do my best to answer.
My question would be: has Steiner written a macro-historical book, a history of the world, that would warrant his place in this specific bibliography, independently of the larger role you point to ?
Here is what we have on Rudolf Steiner in the P2P Foundation wiki:
https://wiki.p2pfoundation.net/index.php?search=Rudolf%20Steiner&title=Special%3ASearch&fulltext=1
Thanks, Michel. I'd also add to the list a look at the internal evolution of human consciousness/being-in-society: Merlin Donald's "A Mind So Rare" and "Origins of the Modern Mind". No doubt Wilber would call these an external view of the internal but that's our situation.
I'm not familiar with this author at all, I will have to check him out. Thanks for letting me know!
I am surprised you mention Sarkar but not Taub, who has made a case for the original sequence of the Varna cycles in actual history, as I showed here: https://asiatimes.com/2024/04/why-its-chinas-turn-now/
good point.
Thanks! I've done a huge amount of reading for my forthcomig book on The Economics of Kindness: Moving from a Selfish Economy to a Cooperative Economy. I currently view human history in four phases:
First Era from a million to 300,000 years ago - The First Era of Domination. Alpha males, etc
Second Era - 300,000 to 5,000 years ago: The First Era of Cooperation. Hunter gatherers and then cooperative achievement societies.
Third Era: The Second Era of Domination. Warlords, tyrants, Kings and Priests
Fourth Era: 1850s to the Future: The Second Era of Cooperation, starting with the first cooperatives, leading to the end of capitalism.
looking forward to it; don't hesitate to let me know when it comes out, I could publish a guest editorial for example
That's very kind of you - I certainly will!
are you familiar with Keith Chandler's Beyond Civilization, which has a very similar framing about the return of equality in the 19th cy ?
Great material! I'd like to add books that start before 5,000 BC, since that is also the beginning of the colonization of Indigenous hunter-gatherer people all around the world. Lots to offer, so here are just three:
Christopher Boehm - Moral Origins - The Evolution of Victur, Altruism and Shame
Kent Flannery & Joyce Murray: The Creation of Inequality: How our Prehistoric Ancestors Set the Stage for Monarcy, Slavery and Empire
James Scott: Against the Grain: A deep History of the Earliest States
good point and wonderful suggestions; I have only read the latter.
Wonderful!! Thank you very much for this list. I'm already familiar with quite a few of these works and am looking forward to exploring others on the list.
I would also suggest adding to this list the profoundly important work of Dr. Glenn T. Martin. For example:
https://oneworldrenaissance.com/2021/01/23/holism-fragmentation-and-our-endangered-future-a-new-vision-and-a-new-hope/
And his newest book, which is really excellent - https://oneworldrenaissance.com/human-dignity-and-world-order/
will definitely check Dr. Martin out , I was not familiar with his work
The texts above are translated from German via DeepL and copied from editors webpages.