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''The Philosophy of Freedom'' is the fundamental philosophical work of the philosopher and esotericist Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925). It addresses the questions whether and in what sense human beings can be said to be free. Part One of ''The Philosophy of Freedom'' examines 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. In Part Two Steiner analyzes the conditions necessary for freedom of action and develops a moral philosophy he describes as "ethical individualism".〔Chapter 9, "The Idea of Freedom".〕 The book's subtitle, ''Some results of introspective observation following the methods of natural science'',〔An alternate translation reads, "Results of Introspective Observations According to the Method of Natural Science" (Rudolf Steiner, ''The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity'', trans. Rita Stebbing, (N.Y.: Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1963), p. 3). The German original is, "Beobachtungs-Resultate nach naturwissenshcaftlicher Methode" (Steiner, 1894, title page.)〕 indicates the philosophical method Steiner intends to follow. Originally published in 1894 in German as ''Die Philosophie der Freiheit'',〔(Jacket )〕〔()〕 with a second edition published in 1918, the work has appeared under a number of English titles, including ''The Philosophy of Freedom'', ''The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity'', and ''Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path''. ==Historical context== Steiner had wanted to write a philosophy of freedom since at least 1880.〔Christoph Lindenberg, ''Rudolf Steiner: Eine Biographie'', (Stuttgart: Verlag Freies Geistesleben 1997), pp. 212–3.〕 The appearance of the book was preceded by his publications on Goethe, focusing on epistemology and the philosophy of science, particularly ''Goethe the Scientist'' (1883)〔("Goethe the Scientist" )〕 and ''The Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World Conception'' (1886).〔(''The Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception, with Specific Reference to Schiller'', also translated as ''Goethe's Theory of Knowledge, An Outline of the Epistemology of His Worldview''. )〕 In 1891, Steiner presented his doctoral dissertation, an epistemological study that includes discussion of Kant's and Fichte's theories of knowledge. A revised version of the thesis was published a year later in book form as ''Truth and Knowledge: Introduction to a Philosophy of Freedom''.〔(''Truth and Knowledge'', dedicated to Eduard von Hartmann ).〕 ''The Philosophy of Freedom'' appeared in 1894.〔Rudolf Steiner, ''Die Philosophie der Freiheit: Grundzuege einer modernen Weltanschauung'', (Berlin: Emil Felder, 1894)〕 In the Preface, Steiner described the aim of the book: knowledge should become "organically alive". "All real philosophers have been ''artists in the realm of concepts''. For them, human ideas were their artists' materials and scientific method their artistic technique."〔Steiner, Preface to the First Edition, 1894, revised 1918. Wilson translation 1964.〕 While a student in Vienna, Steiner attended some of the lectures of Franz Brentano, an important precursor of the phenomenological movement in philosophy (see School of Brentano).〔Owen Barfield in ''The Case for Anthroposophy, Selections from Von Seelenrätseln By Rudolf Steiner'', London, 1970, remarks that Steiner was an admirer and assiduous reader of Brentano () ISBN 0 854402314; and see Steiner's remark that as a student Brentano's stimulus strongly affected him, and in following years he read most of what Brentano published.()〕 Like the later phenomenologists, Steiner was seeking a way to solve the subject-object problem.〔Welburn, Andrew, ''Rudolf Steiner's Philosophy and the Crisis of Contemporary Thought'' (2004), chapter 2. ISBN 0-86315-436-0〕 Steiner's approach to freedom was also in part inspired by Schiller's ''On the Aesthetic Education of Man'' and a response to the scientific works of Goethe, whom Steiner believed had not focused sufficiently on the role of thinking in developing inner freedom.〔Sergei Prokofieff, ''Anthroposophy and The Philosophy of Freedom'', Temple Lodge Press 2009, p. 206.〕 Steiner was also deeply affected as a young man by Kant's argument in the Critique of Pure Reason that we cannot know things as they are in themselves, and he devotes a long chapter of ''The Philosophy of Freedom'', "Are there Limits to Knowledge?", to a refutation of this view, arguing that there are in principle no limits to knowledge. This claim is important to freedom, because for Steiner freedom involves knowing the real basis of our actions. If this basis cannot be known, then freedom is not possible. Steiner's argument in favour of freedom also responds to determinists such as Spinoza, for whom human action is just as much determined as anything else in the necessity that governs nature as a whole. Other philosophers discussed or mentioned in ''The Philosophy of Freedom'' include George Berkeley, Pierre Jean George Cabanis, Descartes, Ernst Haeckel, Robert Hamerling, von Hartmann, Hegel, David Hume, Johannes Kreyenbuehl,〔''Ethical-Spiritual Activity in Kant, A critical-speculative study of the true spirit in Kantian philosophy'', Johannes Kreyenbuehl, article referenced by Steiner published in English translation 1986, ISBN 0-936132-81-7 ()〕 Otto Liebmann, Friedrich Paulsen, Paul Rée, Johannes Rehmke, Schelling, Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer. and David Strauss.〔Rudolf Steiner, ''Philosophie der Freiheit'', Rudolf Steiner Verlag 1987, see Index of Names, pp. 283–284.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Philosophy of Freedom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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