The Rudolf Steiner Archive

70. Schiller and the Present

[ 1 ] On Saturday evening, Dr. Rudolf Steiner from Berlin gave a lecture on “Schiller and the Present” in the auditorium at Georgsplatz, presumably on behalf of the Theosophical Society. We tend, the speaker remarked, to look down on earlier times with disdain, but the quest for truth has been the same in all ages, and all great men of both past and present can serve as our guides in this regard, including Schiller. The speaker identified the attempt to build a bridge between the sensory and spiritual worlds as the focal point of Schiller’s quest. Despite his deep immersion in Kantian philosophy, he could not find the solution to the riddle until he discovered it independently in beauty—namely, that the appearance of the spiritual must be contained within the sensory for it to appear beautiful. His self-education was based on a higher development of humanity through elevation from the sensory to the spiritual. Schiller’s idealism lay in this belief in humanity’s ascent to higher realms. “Only through the dawn of beauty do you enter the realm of knowledge.” Schiller called his worldview “theosophy,” and he believed it must be extended to all areas of human knowledge. Although the year 1859 marked the beginning of a tremendous upheaval in scientific research—brought about by the discovery of spectral analysis, Darwin’s theory of the origin of species, Gustav Theodor Fechner’s philosophical and scientific writings, and Karl Marx’s political-economic theories—and although it has become difficult for us to celebrate Schiller today with the same enthusiasm as was shown on the occasion of his hundredth birthday, Schiller’s idealism has nevertheless retained its value to this day. A careful study of his philosophical letters, which should be part of the common heritage of all educated people, is particularly recommended. Schiller stands at the beginning of our modern development and can therefore be our best guide to understanding the present. The commemoration of the anniversary of his death should be not only an outward celebration in the world but also an inner celebration in our hearts. In the discussion that followed the well-received lecture, Schiller’s relationship to Kant, Goethe, Freemasonry, and similar topics was addressed.