The Rudolf Steiner Archive

34. Imagination as a Creator of Culture

[ 1 ] The series of lectures on the main currents of German intellectual life began on the 25th of this month with a thought-provoking lecture by Dr. Steiner, who discussed “Imagination as the Creator of Culture.” In his opening remarks, the speaker pointed out how idealism had been the great force that created German culture in the days when the German people professed the most ideal religion—Christianity—and then how Luther’s idealism reshaped and revitalized religion, since the Roman Church had placed the Kingdom of God behind the power and treasures of this earth, and when the idealism of the German people had created a new spiritual homeland at the very moment when the Corsican emperor seemed to have shattered the earthly homeland. Today, however, a troubling trend is gaining ground that turns away from idealism; the man of science wants nothing to do with the imagination that lifts the spirit to immeasurable heights; he wants to accept only facts, the painter only the truth that the earthly eye can grasp, and the poet only everyday life. Dr. Steiner emphatically pointed out the fallacy and danger in these tendencies to accept only what the eye sees and the ear hears, and he urged his audience to remember that culture can be preserved and advanced only through idealism mediated by imagination, which liberates the human being from the ego and enables him to engage in higher and freer activity. Turning to his main topic, Dr. Steiner elaborated in insightful remarks on how the imagination is an utterly indestructible, natural force bestowed upon human beings, pointing to its first manifestation in dreams. He discussed in detail the play of the imagination in dreams, in which human beings first detach themselves from the “I” yet at the same time remain in constant contact with real life. Here, the imagination worked by creating symbols; its free and unregulated creations were gradually developed into cultural creations through the organizing spirit of human beings. It is impossible to convey the insightful, often surprising remarks in a single presentation. We must limit ourselves to these very inadequate hints. The speaker concluded by pointing out that without the imagination, all intellectual work remains fruitless; only the imagination enables the scholar, the poet, and the artist to work creatively, for it alone is capable of bringing about the detachment of the self, without which creative power cannot be attained; it alone makes possible the firm recognition of the common goals that must be strived for at all times. Digressing into the realm of history and politics, the speaker emphasized that it is precisely for this reason that no conqueror can create anything lasting, but that social democracy, too, is incapable of creative activity because it lacks a clear vision of the conditions to be created. Without imagination, culture would decline; but through imagination, culture is preserved and freedom is won. Rich applause expressed gratitude to the speaker for his lecture, which would have been even more successful had the numerous examples drawn from the realm of the dream world been somewhat limited and the second part treated in greater depth.