Content
The Hero's Journey
Steps Pages
Prezi Presentation
Chapter Principles To Strive For
Topic Headings
Steps To Freedom
THE PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM HERO'S JOURNEY TO TRUE KNOWLEDGE AND TRUE SELF
Rudolf Steiner wrote The Philosophy Of Freedom. Part I is a Hero's Journey to True Knowledge and Part II is a Hero's Journey to your True Self.
THE ORDINARY WORLD: The Hero's Journey begins in our ordinary life of group think and group identity. My group determines how I should think, how I should behave and my social position, yet I remain under the illusion that I am free.
THE CALL: Eventually, a point of maturity is reached when a person hears the call to freedom. A life of conditioned responses and group conformity is not satisfying. He asks, What is the source of my ideas and What are the real reasons for my actions? Obviously, I cannot be free if I produce no ideas and only follow others. Does my life have any real value without freedom? But is freedom even possible?
MEET THE MENTOR: Centuries of philosophical debate have not been able to conclusively answer the question of freedom. By chance, I came across Rudolf Steiner who points to an experience of freedom in his book "The Philosophy Of Freedom." Steiner is not just another speculating philosopher. He presents a science of freedom that is a map to guide the journey to free thought and free deeds. The path begins by overcoming the weakness caused by uncertainty and doubts. Steiner's path to true knowledge empowers each one of us with conviction, the conviction found only in truth that springs from within.
CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: True knowledge cannot be reached in ordinary thinking and perception. Thinking must be disciplined to cross the threshold into the realm of universal concepts. This is the place of pure thinking where thought is guided by thought. Before we can understand anything else, thinking must be understood.
LOST IN THE ABYSS: Within the world of thought I become lost in the abyss of abstract conceptual systems. How can I know anything other than my ideas? I am enclosed within my subjective world of ideas and cannot escape from it. Reactive thinking immediately inserts my ideas between myself and the perceived world blinding me to the real world.
THE TREASURE: Life is difficult for a person who is unable to grasp reality. Eventually, a person learns that if their thoughts do not apply to the world, then their judgments are wrong. The way out is to recognize that the world causes thoughts in the mind. When selflessly observing the world a conceptual intuition arises within me to make the world intelligible. True judgment is a skill that depends on developing the powers of intuition. It requires finding the thought that corresponds to my observation and placing the thing in its proper context.
TRANSFORMATION: Having grasped the conceptual essence of a thing, I can now individualize the concept by relating it to my unique individuality. Now my creative ideas are reality-based. If my feeling life is devoid of thought I will lose all connection with the world. But knowledge transforms my feeling-life. Gaining knowledge educates and develops my feelings. I become a true individuality by purifying my feelings, by reaching up with my feelings as high as possible into the region of ideals.
THE RETURN: I make my return with new powers of cognition. Now the "world of appearance" reveals its true nature to me. When I know what to make of the world, it is an easy task to orient myself within it.
By completing the Hero's Journey to True Knowledge we have become a cognizing or knowing being. Now we must enter into a new Hero's Journey to become a free being.
THE CALL: The journey to become a free spirit begins with a call to self-knowledge. I turn my developed cognitive abilities toward integrating my personality by understanding my feelings and acts of will. If I turn away from thinking and towards "mere" feeling and will, these lose for me their genuine reality. The challenge is to find both feeling and will in the intuitive experience of thinking, then I experience an outpouring of spiritual love.
MEET THE MENTOR: Only I alone can transform myself into my true self. But before this is possible I must be able to answer the question, "What is a free spirit?" How can I expect to become a free spirit if I do not know what it is? I have to find the concept of the free spirit. Again, I turn to Rudolf Steiner. He provides me with the idea of freedom in Part II of The Philosophy Of Freedom.
CROSSING THE THRESHOLD: As an unfree person I submit to the moral authority of those wiser and more powerful than myself, until I realize these authorities are just weak human beings like myself. The driving force of a free spirit is an ethical impulse to act that springs from intuition. Experiencing the impulse of freedom began a new life for me. I now obey only myself by allowing this impulse to express itself in life.
LOST IN THE ABYSS: What is my destiny? Is there a purpose to the world or to life that has predetermined my life's journey? I am told that my course in life has already been determined by others, by the laws of nature, by the course of history, by cosmic purposes. No, I set my own life purposes. My task, as a free spirit, is at every moment the one I choose.
THE TREASURE: Before making a decision, an unfree person will ask, What have others done or What has God commanded be done? A free spirit makes a completely original decision. He cares very little about what others have done. Performing a free deed is a skill that requires developing the capacity of moral intuition and moral imagination. It also requires the general scientific knowledge of moral technique. Moral intuition is the intuitive selection of an ethical principle to suit a particular situation. Moral imagination is the creative translation of the ethical principle into a concrete goal. And moral technique is the technical implementation of the goal into the world without causing harm. The ethical individualists true joy of life is achieving free deeds.
TRANSFORMATION: The Pessimist says the egotistical striving for pleasure does not lead to satisfaction. Instead, we should submit ourselves to the selfless service of cultural progress. The Pessimist does not understand the transformation a person undergoes to become a free spirit. The highest pleasure of the free spirit is the achievement of his idealistic goals. Ethics depends on a strong will empowered by ideal intuitions that achieves its goal even though the path is full of thorns. A true individuality is his own master.
THE RETURN: Having emancipated myself from the characteristic traits of my group type, I live within community as an independent free spirit. My contribution to advance the moral life of the community is conduct that springs from intuition. As an Ethical Individualist I live out in practice the ideas of my moral imagination.
Science Of Freedom
The Philosophy Of Freedom is the foundation of a new branch of science—the science of freedom. Its method is philosophic based on psychological observation. Its style is the way cognitive theory was expressed in that time... If this science of freedom does not receive the same intensive cultivation accorded other sciences, freedom will be irretrievably lost both by society and by the individual.
Rudolf Steiner to the Ethical Individualist, "You will attain what you seek to achieve and much more."
STEPS PAGES
Steps To Freedom Pages
The Steps To Freedom pages identifies 12 key ideas in each chapter that can be applied to life on the developmental path to True Knowledge and True Self.
Steps .1 to .12: Striving For Individuality
Introduction: The Goal Of Knowledge Part 1
PART I TRUE KNOWLEDGE
Steps 0.1 to 0.12: Striving For Inner Truth
Introduction: The Goal Of Knowledge Part 2
Steps 1.1 to 1.12: Striving For Freedom
Chapter 1 Conscious Human Action
Steps 2.1 To 2.12: Striving For Knowledge
Chapter 2 The Fundamental Desire For Knowledge
Steps 3.1 to 3.12: Thinking Process
Chapter 3 Thinking As The Instrument Of Knowledge
Steps 4.1 to 4.12: Perception Process
Chapter 4 The World As Perception
Steps 5.1 to 5.12: Conception Process
Chapter 5 Knowing The World
Steps 6.1 to 6.12: Ideation Process
Chapter 6 Human Individuality
Steps 7.1 to 7.12: Cognition Process
Chapter 7 Are There Any Limits To Knowledge?
PART II TRUE SELF
Steps 8.1 - 8.12
Chapter 8 The Factors Of Life
Steps 9.1- 9.12
Chapter 9 The Idea Of Freedom
Steps 10.1 - 10.12
Chapter 10 Freedom Philosophy And Monism
Steps 11.1 - 11.12
Chapter 11 World-Purpose And Life Purpose (The Destiny Of Man)
Steps 12.1 - 12.12
Chapter 12 Moral Imagination (Darwinism And Ethics)
Steps 13.1 - 13.12
Chapter 13 The Value Of Life (Optimism And Pessimism)
Steps 14.1 - 14.12
Chapter 14 Individuality And Type
STEPS PREZI PRESENTATION
PREZI Presentation LINK
CHAPTER PRINCIPLES
Core principles of the Philosophy Of Freedom to know and strive toward.
0-p1. Cultivate Individuality In Life
0-p2. Cultivate Individuality In Truth Found In Human Nature
1. Know Why You Act
2. Strive For True Knowledge That Unifies Self-World
3. Practice Pure Thinking
4. Continually Correct Your World-Pictures
5. Rightly Apply Concepts To World
6. Individualize Concepts Into Reality-Based Ideas
7. Answer Your Own Questions
8. Find Feeling And Will In Thinking
9. Learn The Concept Of The Free Spirit
10. Obey The Impulse Of Freedom
11. Envision Purpose Into Your Life
12. Create New Ethical Rules In Each Moment
13. Achieve Great Ideals With A Powerful Will Sustained By Ethical Intuitions
14. Identify As A Free Spirit
TOPIC HEADINGS
0. THE GOAL OF KNOWLEDGE
CHAPTER Part I THEME: Striving For Individuality - The uniqueness of the individual is something worth cultivating.
Theme: Cultivation Of Individuality
topic .01 Shake Off Authority
topic .02 Inner Validation
topic .03 Courage
topic .04 Leaderless Striving
topic .05 Select Own Ideals
topic .06 Inner Worthiness Of Each
topic .07 Nonconformity
topic .08 Unique Perfection
topic .09 Unique Contribution
topic .010 Free Expression
topic .011 Striving For Freedom
topic .012 Independence
“Truth that comes to us from the outside always brings with it uncertainty. We are only convinced by what appears to each of us inwardly as truth.”
0. THE GOAL OF KNOWLEDGE
CHAPTER Part II THEME: Striving For Inner Truth - Inner truth is more useful than outer truth.
Theme: Inner Truth
topic .1 Conviction
topic .2 Empowered By Truth
topic .3 Know Truth
topic .4 Advance In Knowledge
topic .5 Need To Know
topic .6 Apply Principles
topic .7 Practice Pure Thinking
topic .8 Knowing Organism
topic .9 Science Of Freedom
topic .10 Full Potential
topic .11 Ideas Serve Goals
topic .12 Master Of Ideas
“The doer is set apart from the knower, but the one that matters most is lost sight of —the knowing doer, the one who acts out of knowledge.”
1. CONSCIOUS HUMAN ACTION
CHAPTER THEME: Striving For True Freedom - By becoming more conscious of why we act we can awaken from the illusion of freedom to true freedom.
Theme: Question Of Freedom
topic 1.1 Freedom Of Indifferent Choice
topic 1.2 Freedom Of Choice
topic 1.3 Free Expression Of One's Nature
topic 1.4 Conduct Of Character
topic 1.5 Conscious Motive
topic 1.6 Rational Decision
topic 1.7 Ability To Do What One Wants
topic 1.8 Unconditioned Will
topic 1.9 Known Reason
topic 1.10 Force Of Heart
topic 1.11 Idolized Love
topic 1.12 See Good Qualities
“Only when we have made the world-content into our thought-content, do we find again the unity from which we have separated ourselves.”
2. THE FUNDAMENTAL DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE
CHAPTER THEME: Stiving For True Knowledge - We gain knowledge of the world in two ways; observation and thought. This individualization process splits our being into two parts and sends us on a quest to reconcile our thoughts with the world. True knowledge unifies observation and thought --reconciles the split-- when individual insight discovers the essence of nature within (the cooresponding concept) that belongs to the self and also to the world, each in his own way. While I am seeing nature outside, the cooresponding concept arises from within (conceptual intuition).
Theme: True Knowledge
topic 2.1 Materialism
topic 2.2 Spiritualism
topic 2.3 Realism
topic 2.4 Idealism
topic 2.5 Materialistic Idealism
topic 2.6 Indivisible Entity
topic 2.7 Contrast Self
topic 2.8 Feel Nature
topic 2.9 Essence Within
topic 2.10 More Than "I"
topic 2.11 Describe Experience
topic 2.12 Facts w/o Interpretation
“There is no denying that thinking must be understood before anything else can be understood.”
3. THOUGHT AS INSTRUMENT OF KNOWLEDGE
CHAPTER THEME: Freedom Of Thinking - Thinking gains knowledge of the world through the selfless contemplation of it. Pure thinking is guided in linking thoughts by the content of thought.
Theme: Freedom Of Thinking
topic 3.1 Exceptional State
topic 3.2 Active Thinking
topic 3.3 Contemplate Object
topic 3.4 Contemplation Thought
topic 3.5 Know Concept
topic 3.6 Pure Thinking
topic 3.7 "I" Think
topic 3.8 Realm Of Thought
topic 3.9 Create Thought
topic 3.10 Self-Supporting Thought
topic 3.11 Examine Thinking
topic 3.12 Rightness Of Thought
“The perception of a change in me, the modification my Self undergoes, is thrust into the foreground, while the object causing this modification is completely lost sight of. As a consequence it is said: We do not perceive the objects, but only our ideas.”
4. THE WORLD AS PERCEPTION
CHAPTER THEME: Perception Bias - Our perception, as it first appears before we consciously analyze it, is a projection by our organization of past experience.
Theme: Perception Bias
topic 4.1 Generalize Phenomena
topic 4.2 Thinking Reference
topic 4.3 Connect Objects
topic 4.4 Picture Correction
topic 4.5 Observation Correction
topic 4.6 Subjective Percept
topic 4.7 Memory Picture
topic 4.8 Unknowable Thing-In-itself
topic 4.9 My Organization
topic 4.10 Projection
topic 4.11 Web Of Ideas
topic 4.12 Real Senses
“Anything we observe in the world remains unintelligible to us, until the corresponding intuition arises within us which adds that part of reality missing in the percept.”
5. KNOWING THE WORLD
CHAPTER THEME: True Judgment - The supposedly unknowable "thing-in-itself" is knowable by means of conceptual intuition. The concept that corresponds to what is observed arises through thoughtful contemplation of object. Without this concept the world is unintelligible. The world is known when "right judgment" correctly applies the concept that corresponds to the world. This overcomes the perception bias in chapter 4.
Theme: True Judgment
topic 5.1 Awakened State Of Thinking
topic 5.2 True Judgment
topic 5.3 World Caused Thought
topic 5.4 Process Of Becoming
topic 5.5 Inseparable Concept
topic 5.6 Isolate Concept
topic 5.7 Self-Definition
topic 5.8 Universal Concept
topic 5.9 Conceptual Unity
topic 5.10 Corresponding Intuition
topic 5.11 Conceptual Connection
topic 5.12 Objective Percept
“A true individuality will be the one who reaches up with his feelings as high as possible into the region of ideals.”
6. HUMAN INDIVIDUALITY
CHAPTER THEME: Independent Ideas - The independent thinker purifies feelings by reaching them up into universal thinking. Independent reality-based ideas are formed by individualizing the universal cognitive concept gained in chapter 5. Our thinking is individualized by factors of our individuality presented in chapter 6.
Theme: Independent Idea
topic 6.1 Perception Of Motion
topic 6.2 Intuitive Idea
topic 6.3 Representation Of Reality
topic 6.4 Acquire Experience
topic 6.5 Cognitive Objectivity
topic 6.6 Individual Ego
topic 6.7 Two-Fold Nature
topic 6.8 True Individuality
topic 6.9 Standpoint
topic 6.10 Intensity Of Feeling
topic 6.11 Education Of Feeling
topic 6.12 Living Concept
“It follows from the concept of cognizing, as we have defined it, that we cannot speak of limits to cognition.”
7. ARE THERE LIMITS TO KNOWLEDGE?
CHAPTER THEME: Reality - We resolve the personal questioning of chapter 2 and reach cognitive satisfaction in chapter 7. The world of appearance is given its true nature when cognition combines the percept and concept into the true situation.
Theme: Reality - True Nature Of World
topic 7.1 Hypothetical World Principle and Facts Of Experience
topic 7.2 "I" Questions and Answers
topic 7.3 Reconcile Well-Known Percepts and Well-Known Concepts
topic 7.4 Conceptual Representation Of Objective Reality
topic 7.5 Real Principles in addition to Ideal Principles
topic 7.6 Real Evidence Of Senses in addition to Ideal Evidence
topic 7.7 Vanishing Perceptions and Ideal Entities
topic 7.8 Perceptible Reality and Imperceptible Reality
topic 7.9 Monism: Sum of Perceptions and Laws of Nature
topic 7.10 Separation and Reunion of Self into World Continuum
topic 7.11 Induction Of Underlying Causes From Sum Of Perceived Facts
topic 7.12 Objective Real World Continuum And Subjective World Continuum
PART II TRUE SELF
"The error in the mystical form of intuition is that it wants to experience in feeling what should be attained as knowledge. The Mystic tries to elevate feeling, which is individual, into a universal principle."
8. THE FACTORS OF LIFE
CHAPTER THEME: Self Knowledge - Feeling and willing (action) are something we perceive just like other percepts. All percepts are incomplete realities until they are understood by adding their concept. Self knowledge requires understanding our feeling and willing.
Theme: Self-Knowledge
topic 8.1 Feeling Personality
topic 8.2 Perceive Personality
topic 8.3 Know Feeling
topic 8.4 Concept Of Self
topic 8.5 Cultivate Feeling
topic 8.6 Feeling Insight
topic 8.7 Philosopher of Feeling
topic 8.8 Feeling Intuition
topic 8.9 Willing Personality
topic 8.10 Voluntarism
topic 8.11 Naive Knowledge Of Feeling And Willing
topic 8.12 Universal Will
"The concept of man is not complete unless it includes the free spirit as the purest expression of human nature. After all, we are human in the fullest sense only to the extent that we are free."
9. THE IDEA OF FREEDOM
CHAPTER THEME: True Self - The action of an ethical individualist is determined by an idea originating in pure thought (practical reason). To become your true self it is necessary to know what a free spirit is. The concept of your true self as a free spirit is given in this chapter.
Theme: True Self
topic 9.1 Idealistic Act
topic 9.2 Moral Character
topic 9.3 Motivated Idea
topic 9.4 Levels Of Morality
topic 9.5 Ethical Intuition
topic 9.6 Situational Idea
topic 9.7 Ethical Individualism
topic 9.8 Love Of Goal
topic 9.9 Free Action
topic 9.10 Harmony Of Intentions
topic 9.11 Concept Of Free Spirit
topic 9.12 Social Order
topic 9.1 addition: Impulse Of Freedom
"To the extent a person receives his ethical principles from outside he is in fact unfree. But the Idea can manifest itself in the human individual. To the extent a person follows his impulses from this side, he is free."
10. MONISM AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM
CHAPTER THEME: Moral Authority - Obey only yourself.
Theme: Moral Authority
topic 10.1 Mechanical Necessity
topic 10.2 Spiritual Being
topic 10.3 Automaton Or Slave
topic 10.4 Imposed Principles
topic 10.5 Ethical Impulse
topic 10.6 Accusation
topic 10.7 Realize Free Spirit
topic 10.8 Individual Will Impulse
topic 10.9 Course Of Development
topic 10.10 Find Own Self
topic 10.11 Preparatory Stages
topic 10.12 Freedom Is Morality
"What is man's purpose in life? Monism has but one answer: The purpose which he gives to himself. I have no predestined mission in the world; my mission, at any one moment, is that which I choose for myself."
11. WORLD PURPOSE AND LIFE PURPOSE (The Destiny Of Man)
CHAPTER THEME: World Continuum - Human Purpose - This chapter clarifies the difference between human purpose and the natural laws at work in the world continuum. Only a human being can have purpose. Knowledge of the laws at work in the world continuum are needed to change the world with moral technique in chapter 12.
Theme: World Continuum - Human Purpose
topic 11.1 Perceptual Factor
topic 11.2 Conceptual Factor
topic 11.3 Human Purpose
topic 11.4 Invented Purpose
topic 11.5 Laws Of Nature
topic 11.6 Purposeful Life
topic 11.7 Chosen Destiny
topic 11.8 Actualized Idea
topic 11.9 Formative Principle
topic 11.10 Purposeful Design
topic 11.11 Harmony Within Whole
topic 11.12 World Being
"Concrete ideas are formed by us on the basis of our concepts by means of the imagination. Therefore what the free spirit needs in order to carry out his ideas, in order to assert himself in the world, is moral imagination."
12. MORAL IMAGINATION
CHAPTER THEME: Free Ethical Deed - A free deed begins with freely selecting an ethical intention (moral intuition). This universal ethical principle needs to be translated into a concrete goal (moral imagination) and then implemented into the world in a way that doesn't disrupt the current order of the world anymore than is necessary (moral technique).
Theme: Free Ethical Deed
topic 12.1 Concrete Idea
topic 12.2 Moral Imagination
topic 12.3 Moral Technique
topic 12.4 Science Of Morality
topic 12.5 Create Moral Rules
topic 12.6 Evolution Of Morality
topic 12.7 Evolution Of Ethical Nature
topic 12.8 Human Morality
topic 12.9 Characterization Of Deed
topic 12.10 Free Deed
topic 12.11 Want What Is Right
topic 12.12 Enslaved Spirit
“He acts as he wants to act—according to his ethical intuitions—and he finds the true enjoyment of life in achieving what he wants.”
13. THE VALUE OF LIFE
CHAPTER THEME: True Individuality - When the emotions are purified the mature fully developed individual will want to do what he considers right, be his own master and find the enjoyment of life to be the achievement of his goals.
Theme: True Individuality
topic 13.1 Happy Doing Good
topic 13.2 Pain Of Striving
topic 13.3 Pain Outweighs Pleasure
topic 13.4 Pleasure Of Striving
topic 13.5 Quantity Of Pleasure
topic 13.6 Quality Of Pleasure
topic 13.7 Pursuit Of Pleasure
topic 13.8 Value Of Pleasure
topic 13.9 Will For Pleasure
topic 13.10 Magnitude Of Pleasure
topic 13.11 Highest Pleasure
topic 13.12 Joy Of Achievement
“An ethnic group is a whole, and the members belonging to it exhibit characteristic traits that are determined by the nature of the group… However, the human being frees himself from these typical characteristics. He develops his own traits and roles for reasons that can only be found in himself.”
14. THE INDIVIDUAL AND TYPE
CHAPTER THEME: Free Individuality - How to identify a free individuality within a community of conformists.
Theme: Free Individuality
topic 14.1 Group Type
topic 14.2 Freedom From Type
topic 14.3 Judge Character
topic 14.4 Occupational Choice
topic 14.5 Academic Study
topic 14.6 Free Thinking
topic 14.7 Innermost Core
topic 14.8 Views And Actions
topic 14.9 Emancipate Knowing
topic 14.10 Free Spirit
topic 14.11 Ethical Conduct
topic 14.12 Moral Contribution
STEPS TO FREEDOM
PART I: TRUE KNOWLEDGE
Chapter 0 Part I THE GOAL OF KNOWLEDGE
WAY OF KNOWING ANTHROPOMORPHISM: restrict oneself to what can be experienced on, around or in oneself
PRINCIPLE: Cultivate Individuality In Life
From Collectivism To Individualism
STEP .01 From submission to authority To shake off authority.
STEP .02 From expert validation To inner validation.
STEP .03 From distracted by world To commitment to self-development.
STEP .04 From follow your hero To leaderless striving.
STEP .05 From forced ideals To select own ideals.
STEP .06 From some are worthy To inner worthiness of each.
STEP .07 From strive to conform To nonconformity (strive to be yourself).
STEP .08 From perfection of the group To unique perfection of each.
STEP .09 From collective action To unique individual contribution.
STEP .010 From rules of expression To free creative expression.
STEP .011 From striving for collective bondage To striving for freedom.
STEP .012 From dependent on others To independent of others.
Chapter 0 Part II THE GOAL OF KNOWLEDGE
PRINCIPLE: Cultivate Individuality In Truth Found In Human Nature
0.0 From Collective Conformity To Independent Individuality.
STEP .1 From uncertain truth To conviction of inner truth.
STEP .2 From weakened by doubt To empowered by truth.
STEP .3 From belief in truths not understood To truth understood in depths of inner core.
STEP .4 From archived academic knowledge To facts we know, from direct experience..
STEP .5 From compelled to understand To individual will to understand.
STEP .6 From flaunting cultural trends To applying principles of individualism.
STEP .7 From piety training To practice of pure thinking.
STEP .8 From merely know about things To powerful ideas, self-governing thought organism.
STEP .9 From a philosophy of freedom To scientific clarification.
STEP .10 From science of idle curiosity To all-around human development.
STEP .11 From humans serve ideas To ideas serve human goals.
STEP .12 From slave of ideas To master of ideas.
CHAPTER 1 CONSCIOUS HUMAN ACTION
WAY OF KNOWING OCCULTISM: concealed or hidden from view, essential nature of things is beyond range of ordinary knowledge or sense-perception
REALM Willing process
PRINCIPLE: Know Why You Act
1.0 From Illusion Of Freedom To Lawful Necessity.
STEP 1.1 From freedom of indifferent choice To choice determined by a reason.
STEP 1.2 From freedom of choice To choice determined by desire.
STEP 1.3 From free expression of one’s nature To necessity of external causes.
STEP 1.4 From conduct of character (free of external causes) To necessity of characterological disposition.
STEP 1.5 From question of free will To question of conscious motive.
STEP 1.6 From rational decision To rational necessity of decision.
STEP 1.7 From ability to do what one wants To necessity of strongest motive.
STEP 1.8 From unconditioned will To necessity of invisible cause.
STEP 1.9 From known reason To what is the origin of the thought?
STEP 1.10 From driving force of compassionate heart To compassion aroused by thoughts formed.
STEP 1.11 From act out of love To love is result of idolizing the loved one.
STEP 1.12 From see good qualities To perception-pictures were formed of good qualities.
CHAPTER 2 THE FUNDAMENTAL DESIRE FOR KNOWLEDGE
WAY OF KNOWING TRANSCENDENTALISM: I FEEL IT MUST BE THERE OUTSIDE Outside and beyond anything that can be experienced, the essential nature of things lies hidden. But I do not feel it flow within my soul, I only feel it must be there, outside. Transcending or going beyond.
Realm Feeling process
PRINCIPLE: Strive For True Knowledge That Unifies Self-World
THE PATH TO TRUE KNOWLEDGE
As soon as we begin to have thoughts our being is split in two between our thought-content (I) and the perceived world-content.
The world is a single whole reality, but as soon as we begin to have thoughts a split occurs between our inner world of thought and the outer perceived world. We become dissatisfied and feel separated from the world. The feeling that we belong within the universe, not outside it, drives our desire for knowledge. The history of the spiritual life is a continuous quest for the unity between ourselves and the world.
How do we find our way back to unity?
Neither Monism or Dualism can reconcile the split between the World and Self, for they do not do justice to the facts. Dualism pays attention only to the separation between Self and World brought about by human consciousness. Monism pays attention only to the unity and tries either to deny or to gloss over the opposites. We can find the connection once more when we discover the essence of Nature within. The split is determined in a specific way by the organization of each perceiving person, so the bridging of the gap can only take place in a specific way for each person. A person integrates themselves back into the world by combining their thought with the observed world and thus gain true knowledge (see chapter 7).
2.0 From Separating Self and World TO Unifying Self and World.
STEP 2.1 One-sided Materialism shifts the problem away from his own Self.
STEP 2.2 One-sided Spiritualism turns away from the physical world.
STEP 2.3 One-sided Realism turns to the external world and away from the ideals of idealism.
STEP 2.4 One-sided Idealism turns to ideals and away from the empirical world.
STEP 2.5 Materialistic Idealism is caught in a conceptual paradox.
STEP 2.6 The question that actually originates in our consciousness is shifted to another place.
STEP 2.7 Human beings are all within her, and she in each of them.
STEP 2.8 Feeling connection with Nature can only be due to the outer workings of nature living also in us.
STEP 2.9 I can find nature outside only when I first know her within.
STEP 2.10 I investigate my own being to find the solution to the problem.
STEP 2.11 Statements and terms are used only to clarify the actual facts.
STEP 2.12 Ordinary consciousness does not know the sharp distinctions of scholarship.
Chapter 3 THINKING AS THE INSTRUMENT OF KNOWLEDGE
WAY OF KNOWING MYSTICISM In the inner realm something is experienced about the world that cannot be experienced externally. The world reveals its secrets in the inner realm.
REALM Thinking process
PRINCIPLE: Practice Pure Thinking
3.0 From Spectator Who Watches TO Thinker Who Predicts
STEP 3.1 From everyday state To exceptional state.
STEP 3.2 From passive feeling To active reflection.
STEP 3.3 From expressing personal feelings To selfless contemplation of object.
STEP 3.4 From productive thinking To contemplation of thinking.
STEP 3.5 From know observed phenomena indirectly To know thought directly.
STEP 3.6 From physiological basis of thought To pure thinking guided by content of thought.
STEP 3.7 From uncertainty of things To certainty of thought.
STEP 3.8 From thought intermixes with observation To remain within pure thought.
STEP 3.9 From know nature, then create it over again To create thought first, then know.
STEP 3.10 From another's view of your thought To your view of your thought.
STEP 3.11 From turn immediately to object To start with correct principles of thinking.
STEP 3.12 From right or wrong thought To rightly applied thought.
CHAPTER 4 THE WORLD AS PERCEPTION
WAY OF KNOWING EMPIRICISM I will incorporate into my world conception whatever I meet with in the world, whatever shows itself externally.
REALM Perception process
PRINCIPLE: Continually Correct Your World-Pictures
4.0 From Concepts Drawn from Observation TO Concepts Added to Observation
STEP 4.1 From generalize phenomena To conceptualize phenomena.
STEP 4.2 From (thinking) consciousness of objects To thinker refers concept to object.
STEP 4.3 From thought free observation To establish conceptual relationships.
STEP 4.4 From world-picture contradictions To world-picture corrections.
STEP 4.5 From mathematical and qualitative perception-picture To observation corrections.
STEP 4.6 From subjective perception-picture To we can only know our subjective-perception picture.
STEP 4.7 From stream of perception-pictures To I retain a memory-idea.
STEP 4.8 From idea thrust into foreground To cannot know thing-in-itself.
STEP 4.9 From external perception is idea formed by my organization To external object is lost.
STEP 4.10 From what exists outside in space To recognize projection of psyche.
STEP 4.11 From the external percept is my idea To confuse external with internal observations.
STEP 4.12 From perceived world is my idea To my ideas are product of real sense organs.
CHAPTER 5 KNOWING THE WORLD
WAY OF KNOWING VOLUNTARISM Will is the dominant factor in the world, lawful nature of thing
REALM Conception process
PRINCIPLE: Rightly Apply Concepts To World
5.0 From Imagined Perceived World To Things-In-Themselves.
STEP 5.1 From dream state of ideas To awakened state of thinking.
STEP 5.2 From naive acceptance of appearance To true judgment (correctly applied thought).
STEP 5.3 From thought exists only in head To world causes specific concept To arise.
STEP 5.4 From momentary picture To process of becoming (continuous process of growth).
STEP 5.5 From sequence of appearances To indivisible existence of concept with object.
STEP 5.6 From perceived stream of events To isolate and grasp single concepts.
STEP 5.7 From self-perception To self-definition by means of thinking.
STEP 5.8 From the isolation of individual experience (sensing, feeling, perceiving) To the unity of universal concepts.
STEP 5.9 From world unity fail To conceptual world unity.
STEP 5.10 From appearance of equal value To intuition reveals hierarchy of value.
STEP 5.11 From gathering percepts To conceptual connections of percepts.
STEP 5.12 From objective percept (in field of vision) To subjective percept (memory-idea).
Chapter 6 HUMAN INDIVIDUALITY
WAY OF KNOWING LOGICISM Connect things together, thoughts-concepts-ideas, eyes-nose-mouth
REALM Ideation process
PRINCIPLE: Individualize Concepts Into Reality-Based Ideas
6.0 From Perception (different than external things) To Conception (identical with external things)
STEP 6.1 From systematic change To illusion of movement.
STEP 6.2 From appearance of percept To intuitive idea.
STEP 6.3 From moment of observation To complete reality.
STEP 6.4 From unthinking traveler and abstract scholar To acquiring experience.
STEP 6.5 From subjective representation To cognitive objectivity.
STEP 6.6 From subjective individual ego To feelings expressed as pleasure and pain.
STEP 6.7 From indifference toward our self To special value for our self.
STEP 6.8 From swing between thought and feelings To true individuality (reach feelings to universal ideals).
STEP 6.9 From standpoint in the world (environment0 To standpoint to view the world.
STEP 6.10 From individual organization To intensity of feelings.
STEP 6.11 From feeling life devoid of thought To education of feeling life.
STEP 6.12 From feelings To living concepts.
CHAPTER 7 ARE THERE ANY LIMITS TO KNOWLEDGE?
WAY OF KNOWING GNOSIS Know things of world not through senses, through certain cognitional forces
REALM Cognition process
PRINCIPLE: Answer Your Own Questions
7.0 From World Of Appearance TO True Nature Of World
STEP 7.1 From hypothetically assumed world principle To facts of experience.
STEP 7.2 From "I" questions To "I" answers.
STEP 7.3 From well-known percepts To well-known concepts.
STEP 7.4 From objective reality To conceptual representation.
STEP 7.5 From ideal principles To real connecting principles.
STEP 7.6 From ideal evidence To real evidence of senses.
STEP 7.7 From perishing perceptions To enduring ideal entities.
STEP 7.8 From perceptible reality To imperceptible forces.
STEP 7.9 From sum of percepts To laws of nature.
STEP 7.10 From separation of “I” To integration of “I” into world continuum.
STEP 7.11 From large number of perceptual facts To induction of underlying causes.
STEP 7.12 From subjective world continuum To objective real world continuum.
PART II: TRUE SELF
CHAPTER 8 THE FACTORS OF LIFE
WAY OF KNOWING GNOSIS Know things of world not through senses, through certain cognitional forces
REALM Cognition process
PRINCIPLE: Find Feeling And Will In Thinking
8.0 From Knowing Personality To Feeling And Willing Personality
STEP 8.1 From relate percept to ourselves through feeling To feeling personality.
STEP 8.2 From perception of feeling To reality of one's personality.
STEP 8.3 From incomplete reality of feeling To addition of concept to gain full reality of feeling.
STEP 8.4 From feeling of existence To concept of self.
STEP 8.5 From thought directly related to what exists To cultivation of feelings.
STEP 8.6 From grasp it when feel connection to things in world To feeling insight.
STEP 8.7 From make personal feeling a world principle To grasp things in felt union with things.
STEP 8.8 From elevate feeling intuition into universal principle To feeling is a subjective experience.
STEP 8.9 From willing is the effect of our Self on the world To perception of willing personality.
STEP 8.10 From own will a special case of universal will To will can only be experienced individually.
STEP 8.11 From real principles of feeling and willing To naive knowledge gained by particular experience of feeling or willing.
STEP 8.12 From assumed existence of willed world-process To will is part of world-process only when thinking conceptually relates it to world.
CHAPTER 9 THE IDEA OF FREEDOM
WAY OF KNOWING LOGICISM Connect things together, thoughts-concepts-ideas, eyes-nose-mouth
REALM Ideation process
PRINCIPLE: Learn The Concept Of The Free Spirit
9.0 From Conceptual Intuition Of My Perception To Conceptual Intuition Of My Act Of Will
STEP 9.1 From action determined by a perceptual object To action determined by my system of concepts.
STEP 9.2 From development of individual make-up To moral character.
STEP 9.3 From action determined by characterological disposition To identifying motive and driving force resulting in motivated idea.
STEP 9.4a From levels of characterological disposition (driving force) To practical reason
STEP 9.4b From levels of motive (goals) To conceptual intuition
STEP 9.5 From conduct influenced by characterological disposition or moral norm principles To deed determined by moral intuition.
STEP 9.6 From situational moral duty with behavior instructions To situational Idea revealed when facing situation.
STEP 9.7 From express general moral norms To express one’s individual ethical content.
STEP 9.8 From automaton carrying out orders to further cultural progress To motivated by my ethical principle united with my love for the goal.
STEP 9.9 From follow animal and social instincts into corrupt action To free action of ethical aims grasped by pure intuition.
STEP 9.10 From united by common moral order To united by harmony of intentions.
STEP 9.11 From natural and social being To free beimg who orders his conduct according to his own impulses (intuitions).
STEP 9.12 From dangerous free spirit To social order favors individual.
STEP 9.1 addition: From psyche-physical organization TO impulse of freedom
CHAPTER 10 MONISM AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM
WAY OF KNOWING VOLUNTARISM Will is the dominant factor in the world, lawful nature of thing
REALM Conception process
PRINCIPLE: Obey The Impulse Of Freedom
10.0 From External Moral Authority To Internal Moral Authority
STEP 10.1 From mechanical laws of materialism To illusion of freedom.
STEP 10.2 From dictates of spiritual being To do god's will.
STEP 10.3 From materialist automaton or spiritualist slave To no room for freedom.
STEP 10.4 From imposed principles To denial of freedom.
STEP 10.5 From accept moral principles from others To free ethical impulse.
STEP 10.6 From accusation of unfreedom To identify the thing, person or institution that made this person act.
STEP 10.7 From unfree in world of percepts To freedom in realization of free spirit.
STEP 10.8 From carry out intentions of another To intuitive Ideas realized in individual goals.
STEP 10.9 From full human nature not expressed To on this course of development, can the free spirit be attained.
STEP 10.10 From stages of development To find own self.
STEP 10.11 From preparatory stages of morality To preparatory stages overcome through free spirit.
STEP 10.12 From morality of higher order beings To morality is solely a human quality.
Chapter 11 WORLD PURPOSE AND LIFE PURPOSE (The Destiny Of Man)
WAY OF KNOWING EMPIRICISM I will incorporate into my world conception whatever I meet with in the world, whatever shows itself externally.
REALM Perception process
PRINCIPLE: Envision Purpose Into Your Life
11.0 From Earlier Event Determines Later Event To Later Deed Influences Doer's Earlier Idea.
STEP 11.1 From side by side percepts of event To connect percepts of event with concepts cause and effect.
STEP 11.2 From percept effect comes after percept cause To thinking reveals effect influences cause by conceptual factor.
STEP 11.3 From lawful connection between later and earlier event To human action where concept of effect (idea) perceptibly influences cause.
STEP 11.4 From imperceptible forces in Nature To invented imaginary purpose.
STEP 11.5 From purposes of Nature To laws of nature.
STEP 11.6 From life purposes not set by self To own purposeful (operative) idea.
STEP 11.7 From predestined mission To my task chosen at every moment.
STEP 11.8 From embodiment of ideas by history To purposeful ideas only realized by human agents.
STEP 11.9 From give up on order and unity in the world To formative principle of nature.
STEP 11.10 From examples of death and suffering to show no purpose in Nature To miraculous world full of purposeful design.
STEP 11.11 Harmony between parts forming a perceptible whole To harmony of Ideas that underlie perceptible whole.
STEP 11.12 From see cause and effect world purpose To rejection of absolute world being.
CHAPTER 12 MORAL IMAGINATION (Darwinism and Ethics)
WAY OF KNOWING MYSTICISM In the inner realm something is experienced about the world that cannot be experienced externally. The world reveals its secrets in the inner realm.
REALM Thinking process
PRINCIPLE: Create New Ethical Rules In Each Moment
12.0 From Act On Past Experience To Act On Original Reasoned Decision.
STEP 12.1 From find existing concrete idea To translate universal concept into concrete idea of action.
STEP 12.2 From morally unproductive To condensing ethical concepts into concrete ideas with imagination.
STEP 12.3 From scientific knowledge of one's field To transforming the world without violating existing laws.
STEP 12.4 From moral ideas put to use as operating causes To study of morality as a science of moral ideas.
STEP 12.5 From apply moral laws like laws of diet To newly create my own moral laws in each moment.
STEP 12.6 From assess our moral ideas by comparing with traditional teachings To new moral ideas not drawn from earlier ones.
STEP 12.7 From theory of evolution To individual's particular ethical nature.
STEP 12.8 From rejection of supernatural influence on ethical life To humans are the bearers of morality.
STEP 12.9 From observation of a deed determined by ethical idea To characterization of deed as free.
STEP 12.10 From necessity influencing the will from outside To free deed where action is the image of an ideal intuition.
STEP 12.11 From do what you do not want to do To want to do what you consider to be right.
STEP 12.12 From external powers prevent me from doing what I want To damned to do nothing.
CHAPTER 13 THE VALUE OF LIFE (Optimism and Pessimism)
WAY OF KNOWING TRANSCENDENTALISM: I FEEL IT MUST BE THERE OUTSIDE Outside and beyond anything that can be experienced, the essential nature of things lies hidden. But I do not feel it flow within my soul, I only feel it must be there, outside. Transcending or going beyond.
Realm Feeling process
PRINCIPLE: Achieve Great Ideals With A Powerful Will Sustained By Ethical Intuitions
13.0 From Optimistic or Pessimistic View To Value Of Life.
STEP 13.1 From learn God's intentions for the world To feel happy doing good and cooperating with others.
STEP 13.2 From pessimistic view, life is suffering of cravings of the will To stifle all wishes and needs, be idle.
STEP 13.3 From pain outweighs pleasure in the world To selfless service to world progress.
STEP 13.4 From living in the hope of a distant but intensely desired goal To pleasure of striving.
STEP 13.5 From rational estimate of sum of pleasure To quantity of pleasure.
STEP 13.6 From remove “illusory” feelings by critical examination of pleasure To quality of pleasure.
STEP 13.7 From hopelessness of gaining pleasure from egotistical desires To devotion to selfless goals.
STEP 13.8 From enjoyment exactly matches the duration and intensity of our desire To highest value of pleasure.
STEP 13.9 From desire for goal is greater than resistance of pain To battle against all suffering and pain.
STEP 13.10 From greatest magnitude of pleasure (intensity and duration) To maximum pleasure for amusement.
STEP 13.11 From inspired by ethical ideals to achieve goal To highest pleasure.
STEP 13.12 From achievement of the goals striven for To true enjoyment of life.
CHAPTER 14 INDIVIDUALITY AND TYPE
WAY OF KNOWING OCCULTISM: concealed or hidden from view, essential nature of things is beyond range of ordinary knowledge or sense-perception
REALM Willing process
PRINCIPLE: Identify As A Free Spirit
14.0 From Group Member To Independent, Free Individuality.
STEP 14.1 From members traits and behavior conditioned by group To use group type to explain a person.
STEP 14.2 From use our common qualities as members of human race to restrict freedom To develop own qualities and activities.
STEP 14.3 From judge according to general characteristics of sex To judge according to character.
STEP 14.4 From people suited only to occupation they are now in To have it in them to attain another occupation on their own.
STEP 14.5 From academic study of race, ethnicity, nation and sex To learn nothing of unique character of single individual.
STEP 14.6 From think according to handed over fixed conceptual content To think according to individual conceptual content.
STEP 14.7 From typical characteristics To find way to innermost core of individual.
STEP 14.8 From study of concepts of type To listen to his way of viewing the world and observe his action.
STEP 14.9 From mix in our preconceptions to know another To receive those concepts by which he defines himself.
STEP 14.10 From gradual emancipation from animal-like life and decrees of authorities To free spirit within a community.
STEP 14.11 From member of natural and social organism imitating others or obeying commands To free ethical conduct springing from intuition.
STEP 14.12 From living out moral ideas in practice To contribution to moral life of humanity.
