75. The Significance of Materialism

Today, one often hears it said that the materialism of the second half of the nineteenth century has been overcome by newer schools of thought. They point out how many thinkers are again assuming an independent principle of life, whereas in the high tide of materialism belief prevailed that all life is only a complicated formation of those forces that work in inanimate nature. And similar things are cited to show that human thinking is turning to spiritual contemplation.

Such thoughts are often put forward precisely by those who describe the anthroposophical view as unacceptable. They cloak their aversion to it in the assertion that the justified movement towards the spiritual can be achieved without the turn that is sought through anthroposophy. What is the need for this, it is said, since materialism is only the legacy of a certain naturalistic radicalism, which is wreaking havoc among lay people, while it has been overcome for scientifically minded people.

It must be asserted in response to this claim that it is precisely this claim that fails to recognize the contemporary historical significance of materialism. And it is entirely possible for an anthroposophical consideration to appreciate this. It sees in materialism the one-sided transformation of a school of thought that is justified in its own field into a worldview. But it must admit the fruitfulness of the materialistic interpretation of certain phenomena based on its insights. And it does justice to an independent understanding of the spiritual by [...]