Questions of Courage

Currently in the USA there is a “revolution of common sense” underway under the banner of nationalism, competition for natural resources and economic growth without regard for ecological limitations. In the last two episodes Steiner’s notion of aesthetic culture, that embraces not only the arts and humanities but also natural science and economics, was presented as an alternate vision for a revolution of common sense. Some of the most positive developments of the last century, the emergence of the modern environmental movement and social-ecological finance and banking, have recently been shown to be connected with Steiner’s influence in these areas by Dan McKanan. This episode presents two examples of strategies, in modern political thought and philosophy, to navigate tensions between “anaesthetic” and technocratic tendencies in the natural sciences and economy on the one hand, and lived, human experience on the other. What comes to the fore is a gap, one that a true revolution of common sense might fill. References: Glazebrook, Trish (2004) Global Technology and the Promise of Control, in David Tabachnick and Toivo Koivukoski (eds), Globalization, Technology, and Philosophy. (SUNY Press, Albany).Heidegger, Martin (1977) The Question Concerning Technology, and Other Essays. (New York: Harper Collins).McKanan, Dan (2017) Eco-Alchemy: Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism. (Berkeley, CA: Univ of California Press).Stallabrass, Julian (2020) Contemporary Art: a Very Short Introduction. (Oxford: Oxford University Press).Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.

Talk of a revolution of common sense in the USA and around the world is focused on nationalism, economic competition and development without regard of environmental and ecological considerations. This episode suggests the revolution offers a false promise even while the widespread appeal of the idea of a revolution of common sense is deeply justified. In this episode Goethe’s natural scientific method of intuitive understanding is presented as a discipline of common sense, or aesthetics, with reference to the role it played during the emergence of the modern environmental movement and green banks. A follow up episode indicates how this is connected with Rudolf Steiner’s associative economics, how Goethe’s primal phenomena is for theoretical philosophy what true price is for economic, practical philosophy. References: Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1975) Goethes Naturwissenschaftliche Schriften Ed. Rudolf Steiner. Vol. I-V. (Dornach, Switzerland: Rudolf Steiner Verlag). Förster, Eckart (2017) Die 25 Jahre Der Philosophie. (Frankfurt, Germnay: Vittorio Klostermann GmbH). McKanan, Dan (2017) Eco-Alchemy: Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism. (Berkeley, CA: Univ of California Press). https://www.natureinstitute.org/ https://science.goetheanum.org/en/section/natural-science-sectionQuestions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.

Even though many people feel it is meaningful to speak of the light and colors when trying to express something deeper in human nature, in most places we are asking to be judged as superstitious or naïve if we insist on speaking about the spiritual aura. In many places it is perhaps most associated in some places with traveling carnival culture and the desire to be entertained. One might have one picture taken, with aura included, in the same booth where one can have a palm reading. When are these perceptions pathological and how can they be approached in a discerning way? References:Sebastian Barry (2017) Days Without End. (Penguin).Rudolf Steiner (2005) Theosophy: An Introduction to the Supersensible Knowledge of the World and the Destination of Man. (Rudolf Steiner Press).Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.

People all around the world watched the inauguration in the USA, a country with so much wealth, influence and power, hoping to gain some understanding of what is happening. What is the deeper meaning of the “revolution of common sense” promised by the incoming administration? What does this turn of events express? How can they be understood and what do they demand of us? This episode explores dynamics from recent centuries to contribute to this need of orientation, and to suggest what a true revolution in common sense requires. References: Phil Klay (2022) Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War. (Penguin Publishing Group).James W. Douglass. (2010) JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. (Simon and Schuster).William F. Pepper (2018) An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King. (Verso Books).Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy. The White House. Available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declassification-of-records-concerning-the-assassinations-of-president-john-f-kennedy/,Charles Taylor (2004) Modern Social Imaginaries. (Duke University Press).Hilary Osborne (2018) What is Cambridge Analytica? The firm at the centre of Facebook’s data breach. The Guardian, 18 March. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/18/what-is-cambridge-analytica-firm-at-centre-of-facebook-data-breach.See Arthur Zajonc (1998) Goethe’s Way of Science: A Phenomenology of Natureand Ed. David Seamon. (Albany, NY: SUNY Press).Dan McKanan (2017) Eco-Alchemy: Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism. (Univ of California Press).In 2024 an event was hosted at the Goetheanum that focused on the global significance of these approaches to economics. https://www.worldgoetheanum.org/en/wgf-2024/wgf-2024-review. See also Otto Scharmer’s reflections here: https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/rethinking-economics/Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.

What are the options today for students who are looking for centers of learning defined by an interest in the living spirit in the human being and the world? Not long ago they may have found themselves in the humanities departments around the world, but today they might be drawn to contemplative studies programs. This is connected with two trends in higher education that can be traced back to crisis years of the 1960s. One trend tries to understand knowledge ultimately in terms of power, the other aspires to develop it into love. The Goetheanum, an independent college for contemplative understanding and practice that was founded a century ago, appears as interwoven with deep questions of university students when seen in this light. Mirabai Bush (2010) Contemplative Higher Education in Contemporary America. Available at https://mindfulcampus.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/mbush-contemplativehighereducation.pdf.Michel Foucault (1980) Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group).Mary Caroline Richards (1973) The Crossing Point: Selected Talks and Writings. (Wesleyan University Press).Rudolf Steiner (2013) Constitution of the School of Spiritual Science: An Introductory Guide. (Rudolf Steiner Press).Arthur Zajonc (2009) Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry: When Knowing Becomes Love. (Lindisfarne Books).Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.

Really, what if we are all coming back? Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of color blindness, wrote an article where she muses on the possible reality of reincarnation and karma, and what implications this might have for social and political life. She shares how the questions arose organically for her when she was young, though she eventually dismissed them and embraced a study of politics, and the use of thought experiments of prenatal awareness in constitutional design as they are developed by John Rawls in his famous Theory of Justice. In this episode the challenges of seriously considering the possibility of reincarnation and karma are touched on as well as contemplative research approaches developed by Rudolf Steiner, indicating one possibility of serious exploration in this direction. Alexander, Michelle. “Opinion | What If We’re All Coming Back?” The New York Times, October 29, 2018, sec. Opinion. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/29/opinion/climate-change-politics-john-rawls.htmlAlexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow. The New Press, 2012.Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. Oxford University Press, 1999.Steiner, Rudolf. Theosophy: An Introduction to the Supersensible Knowledge of the World and the Destination of Man. Anthroposophic Press, 1988.Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.

In this Episode conversations with Susan Witt and David Fix from the Schumacher Center for a new Economics are explored which focused on the social and economic dimensions of land ownership. The episode moves through a simple and elegant characterization of economics shared by Susan, how to understand what a commodity is and how treating land like a commodity unleashes anti-social dynamics in the economy and drives unjust inequality. This episode shares from one of the conversations taking place as preparation for the upcoming event: “Working for Freedom and the Common Good”, September 19-21 at the Goetheanum, an intergenerational conversation about global economic cooperation and peace 100 years after the first “World Power Conference”.References:“Working for Freedom and the Common Good” website: https://www.worldgoetheanum.org/en/wg...Schumacher Center for a New Economics: https://centerforneweconomics.org/Rudolf Steiner. Rethinking EconomicsThomas Piketty. Capital in the Twenty-First CenturyQuestions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations

This episode touches on the will, meditation, and the possibility of developing spiritually in a way that undermines our ability of love, responsibility and compassion in life. This is not only relevant for young people who are developing an inner practice, but also for countless others who are navigating existential inner difficulties for reasons related to experiences with psychoactive substances or even excessive media use or video gaming. These young people may feel that their difficulties are essentially spiritual challenges that beg a spiritual point of view and understanding. This episode focuses on the feeling of a need to develop a strengthened self, one of pure will, to counter challenging spiritual experiences, while overlooking the most important balancing power: love and fellowship, awareness of earthly needs of others a will for service. This leads to the picture that developing a strengthened self should always be complimented by cultivating the capacity of compassion and a clear intention of the heart, will and mind to be of service through our lives and work.References:Rudolf Steiner. A Way of Self-Knowledge: And the Threshold of the Spiritual World (CW 16–17). SteinerBooks, 1999Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations