Hello anthroposophy tomorrow list,

 

I've just joined your list today after following some of the exchanges for the past couple months via the public list archive. I hope that my participation here will be seen as an opportunity for discussion and debate rather than a provocation. I should be able to remain on the list for six weeks or so.

 

I'd like to outline what I see as some of the major areas of agreement and disagreement between myself and several of you on the topics of race and antisemitism and their relevance to Rudolf Steiner's work. In general, I think that the relationship between Steiner's racial theories, on the one hand, and other race doctrines prevalent in German-speaking Europe in the early twentieth century (including Nazi race theories and their precursors), on the other hand, is a good deal more complex than several of you seem to think. It is quite possible, indeed likely, that I have misunderstood the stance that other anthroposophy tomorrow list members have staked out on some of these questions, and I invite clarification and correction if anybody thinks that is the case. I'm going to divide my initial comments into general statements about looking at racial and ethnic doctrines in a historical context, and specific statements about Steiner's work.

 

General themes: I agree that the best way to understand what a historical figure believed and taught is to consult primary sources directly when possible. I agree that racist belief systems involve a hierarchical arrangement of different racial groups. I agree that racist doctrines do not invalidate their authors' other achievements. I agree that empathy, in the specific sense of trying to get inside the mental world of another person, is necessary for historical comprehension.

 

I disagree that contesting other people's self-conceptions involves arrogance. I disagree that adequate understanding of historical figures requires empathy in the specific sense of sympathizing with them. I disagree that external analysts should adopt the internal perspectives of the worldviews they study. I disagree that critical examination of century-old racial theories involves imposing current standards of political correctness.

 

Specific themes: I agree that it is important to take the wide breadth of Steiner's statements on race and ethnicity into account. I agree that Steiner combined anti-racist and racist doctrines, and philosemitic and antisemitic doctrines. I agree that in his theosophical/anthroposophical period Steiner saw his own stance as consistently anti-nationalist and did not consider himself an antisemite. I agree that Steiner recognized his own fallibility. I agree that many Jews, both in Steiner's era and today, have found Steiner's teachings appealing and valuable.

 

I disagree that Steiner's central emphasis on love, on the Christ impulse, and on the Universal Human neutralize the racist and judeophobic strands within his work. I disagree that Steiner's version of the Aryan myth, along with other non-Nazi versions, were not recognizably racist until after 1945. I disagree that Steiner's insistence on assimilation was incompatible with antisemitism.

 

Since Steiner's view on Jews have been a hot topic here lately, it might make sense for me to focus on them initially. I also think this is a good topic for discussion because it offers ample evidence of both the 'good' and 'bad' sides of Steiner's teachings, so to speak. I will very briefly explain my perspective on this question, and I invite responses.

 

I think that Steiner went through several phases in his assessment of Jews, Judaism, and Jewishness. My basic periodization is as follows: an early phase of cultural antisemitism during his pan-German period in the 1880's; a middle phase of individualist philosemitism around the turn of the century; and a late phase of esoteric antisemitism during his theosophical/anthroposophical period after 1902.

 

In the writings and lectures that I consider tendentially antisemitic, Steiner did not espouse the kind of racial antisemitism that was becoming increasingly prominent during his era; instead his stance remained emphatically assimilationist throughout his life. I do think, however, that his mature views on Jews can only be understood in conjunction with his broader racial doctrines. In Steiner's opinion, the best response to what was then known as the 'Jewish question' was for "Jewry as a people" to disappear by blending into other peoples. He viewed this disappearance of Jewishness as the solution to aggressively antisemitic agitation and hatred, as well as to the ostensibly closed and anachronistic nature of Jews themselves. 

 

In closing, for now I would like to offer several quotes from Steiner's published works on the topic, chosen from the three phases I outlined above:

 

 

I encourage other list members to offer their own comments on these passages and to offer alternative readings to my own. I'd rather avoid pointless wrangling over whether these quotes have been taken out of context, since many anthroposophists appear to have a very different understanding of that phrase from my own, but if anybody thinks there is anything fishy about any of the above passages, I encourage you to say so. I also encourage further quotations from Steiner related to this topic, and viewpoints on their relevance for anthroposophists today.

 

Peter Staudenmaier