{"id":4081,"date":"2022-08-17T08:40:03","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T15:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theliteraryarts.com\/?p=4081"},"modified":"2023-12-18T21:55:56","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T05:55:56","slug":"preparing-the-future-by-peter-selg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theliteraryarts.com\/es\/preparing-the-future-by-peter-selg\/","title":{"rendered":"\"Preparar el futuro\" de Peter Selg"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article first appeared in German in the June 25, 2022 issue of the newsletter Das Goetheanum<\/em>. It appears on this website for the Section of the Literary Arts & Humanities with permission of the newsletter editor. Read or subscribe to Das Goetheanum!<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Essay translation by Das Goetheanum<\/em> staff.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Reflections on The School for Spiritual Science:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>The Work of the Sections in the School<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

by Peter Selg<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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What is the School for Spiritual Science?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Goetheanum sees itself as a School for Spiritual Science<\/a> with various departments (Sections), as a place of research, training, and teaching, with an inner spiritual core, Anthroposophy,<\/strong> and the \u2039esoteric school of the Goetheanum\u203a that grew out of it [1] \u2013 as a course of systematic internal training, which is central to all departmental activities. The image of such a School is not easy to convey to the outside world and present academic landscape; university institutions do not commonly have an internal training course. But that could change in the future \u2013 and the Goetheanum model has a lot going for it.<\/p>\n

However, the image \u2013 Rudolf Steiner\u2019s School vision and intention \u2013 can only be communicated to a limited extent<\/strong> even in the inner world of the Anthroposophical Society, as the de facto sponsor of the School mentioned above. Many of its members understand the School to mean their meetings on First Class content. For them, the School is an esoteric school \u2013 a \u2039university circle\u203a in this context is understood as a circle of class members and\/or meditators of the lessons, a \u2039university conversation\u203a as an exchange among themselves. In many places, the mediators\u2019 circles have little or no connection with the specialist sections and professional work of Anthroposophy, sometimes no longer even with the active part of the Anthroposophical Society in the locality \u2013 and form a life of their own. It is not infrequently argued that this understanding of higher education \u2013 as a purely esoteric school \u2013 is that of the 1923\/24 Christmas Conference. Steiner had broken off contact with academic science at that time and put everything on a new spiritual basis. Corresponding citations serve as evidence.<\/p>\n

For the Goetheanum, the associated questions of self-understanding and identity are existential<\/strong> \u2013 and much will depend on whether it will be possible in the next few years to achieve greater conceptual clarity about the School, but by no means only \u2013 in terminological terms. What do people mean by the term \u2039School for Spiritual Science\u203a? As one wishes to draw on the history of the Anthroposophical Society and Movement and Rudolf Steiner\u2019s intentions in answering this question, historical reflection and consciousness-raising are obligatory. A milestone in the development of the Dornach School under Rudolf Steiner were the events of 1922 [2].<\/p>\n

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The Upheaval of 1922<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In Germany, Steiner once again addressed the general public with two professionally organized lecture tours in January and May 1922<\/strong> \u2013 and attempted to demonstrate the unique scientific character of his anthroposophical spiritual science [3]. He also conducted two \u00abSchool Courses\u00bb with his collaborators in Berlin and The Hague, with vibrant and demanding programs. In Berlin, each of the seven days of the School course in March 1922 was devoted to a particular technical discipline and was chaired by a specialist (inorganic natural science\/organic natural science and medicine\/philosophy\/education\/social science\/theology\/linguistics). Steiner gave the morning lecture in each case, followed by up to five specialized lectures \u2013 by academics from the Anthroposophical Society who spoke about the penetration of the field with anthroposophical methods and perspectives [4]. On four days of the School course, Steiner also spoke in the evening in the Oberlichtsaal of the Berlin Philharmonics; other lecturers gave presentations at the Berlin University, and the Dornach Eurythmy Ensemble gave a guest performance in the packed Deutsches Theater. At the Vienna \u2039West-East Congress\u203a, in June 1922, there were also extensive specialist events [5].<\/p>\n

[Note from the Editor: for more information on the Public Courses that Peter Selg mentions, view this video of the presentation given by SteinerBooks editor Clifford Venho<\/a> at our Section meeting on May 14, 2022.]<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n