The Philosophy of Freedom
Presented by Brian Gray
The Philosophy of Freedom, also titled in other translations as Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path and The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, is Rudolf Steiner’s foundational philosophical work. Part One explores the basis for freedom in human thinking, gives an account of the relationship between knowledge and perception, and explores the reliability of thinking as a means to knowledge. Part Two analyzes the conditions necessary for freedom of action and develops the moral philosophy Steiner describes as “ethical individualism”.
From the back cover of Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path:
Of all of his works, Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path is the one that Steiner himself believed would have the longest life and the greatest spiritual and cultural consequences. It was written as a phenomenological account of the “results of observing the human soul according to the methods of natural science”.
This seminal work asserts that free spiritual activity – understood as the human ability to think and act independently of physical nature – is the suitable path for human beings today to gain true knowledge of themselves and of the universe. This is not merely a philosophical volume, but rather a warm, heart-oriented guide to the practice and experience of living thinking.
Readers will not find abstract philosophy here, but a step-by-step account of how a person may come to experience living, intuitive thinking – “the conscious experience of a purely spiritual content”.
During the past hundred years since it was written, many have tried to discover this “new thinking” that could help us understand the various spiritual, ecological, social, political, and philosophical issues facing us. But only Rudolf Steiner laid out a path that leads from ordinary thinking to the level of pure spiritual activity – intuitive thinking – in which we become co-creators and co-redeemers of the world.
“When, with the help of Steiner’s book, we recognize that thinking is an essentially spiritual activity, we discover that it can school us. In that sense –Steiner’s sense – thinking is a spiritual path.” (Gertrude Reif Hughes).
These lectures were presented in 2013 by Brian Gray, who at the time was the Director of the Foundation Program in Anthroposophy at Rudolf Steiner College, Fair Oaks, CA.
Course Details:
In this free 17-session video course, Brian presents an in-depth exploration of Rudolf Steiner’s fundamental work.
It was recorded and published in 2013 by Liane Brookhart (Liane’s Lens of Half Moon Bay, CA) and is offered free of charge.
Donations accepted.
Further Details and Registration:
Brian Gray is a musician, teacher, lecturer, and writer on many topics drawn from Anthroposophy – the work of Rudolf Steiner. He loves to share research from the realms of star wisdom, biography, cosmology, Waldorf Education, sacred architecture, and esoteric Christianity. Brian was core faculty at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California from 1981-2016. He also served as RSC’s Director of the Foundation Program from 1991-1998, and again from 2006-2016.
Brian earned a BA in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Inspired in 1979 by René Querido – one of his master teachers at RSC – Brian completed a certificate in Waldorf Teacher Education in 1981. Brian has helped lead tours through Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land, exploring sacred architecture, sacred sites, and Parzival’s quest for the Holy Grail.
Brian is a founding member of Wise Cosmos Educational Initiative, and is the President of the Board of Directors.
