The Rudolf Steiner Archive

60. On the Conception of History

[ 1 ] The Workers’ Educational School held its regular general meeting on the 7th of this month at the union hall. The brief report from the executive board, presented by the first chairperson, states the following: In the past quarter, the school had 268 members (39 women and 229 men). According to the statistics, only 6 members were politically organized, 73 were union members, and 103 were both politically and union members. The board proposed to the General Assembly that up to 30 members be allowed to participate in the advanced courses for public speaking and economics. Participants must be politically and union members and must have taken at least one other course at the school. […] During the discussion of the Executive Board’s report, after a lengthy debate, the Board’s proposal regarding advanced courses was accepted only for economics. For public speaking, the old standard is to remain in place, meaning that, as before, only 20 participants will be admitted. The course lasts 20 days, and the tuition is 2 M. […] Further discussion was cut short by a motion to close the session in order to allow sufficient time for the second item on the agenda. – At the beginning of his lecture on “Conception of History,” Dr. Steiner stated that he intended to use it to finally clarify his position vis-à-vis his critics at the school. His views, he said, remained the same as they had been five years earlier, when he was brought to the school. His stance toward historical materialism had already been known at that time. If attacks were now being directed against him, it was in any case due to his recent theosophical activities. In his lecture, the speaker disputed the validity of historical materialism as a comprehensive worldview. In the very extensive discussion, Geithner and Grunwald spoke out very sharply against Dr. Steiner, while also maintaining that a teacher with such views could, by their very nature, no longer be a teacher at the school. All the other speakers stated that, while they too could not bring themselves to agree with Dr. Steiner’s views, there was no reason to terminate Dr. Steiner’s employment at the school. A certain degree of academic freedom had always prevailed at the school, and the members had not suffered any harm as a result. Finally, the following resolution, proposed by Dittmer, was adopted by a vote of 7 to 0:

[ 2 ] “While the General Assembly of the Workers’ Educational School cannot agree with Dr. Steiner’s views on historical materialism, it expresses its conviction that he continues to enjoy the students’ trust and may continue to serve as a teacher in the school’s courses.” […]