8. The Harmony Between Spiritual Science and Natural Science and the Misconceptions about the Former and the Building Dedicated to it in Dornach

That was roughly what I explained in the lecture the day before yesterday. It is self-evident that the assertion of such insights in our present time must, one might say, meet with opposition from all sides. For what is being said here contradicts the habits of thought that must, quite understandably, dominate the thoughts of the vast majority of people today, and one might even say, when looking at the history of the last few centuries. In particular, there is initially a complete contradiction from the scientific side. Now the spiritual researcher does not see this contradiction, this opposition from the scientific side, as being due to human limitations or a very dry logic, but he understands very well that such opposition is possible. The spiritual researcher can, precisely because he views the world from a spiritual point of view, can fully empathize with every kind of contradiction, especially those raised from the natural science side. And above all, the opinion should not be entertained that the spiritual researcher despises the natural science point of view. On the contrary – and I have emphasized this time and again in earlier lectures here – on the contrary, the spiritual researcher acknowledges the great, the tremendous achievements for all human work and for all human knowledge that natural science has incorporated into human development over the last few centuries since the dawn of modern times. Indeed, the spiritual researcher even views his relationship to natural science in the following way. Speaking in the abstract – it could be presented here in detail, but that is probably not necessary today – speaking in the abstract, I say, one recognizes that in a certain time that which today is called natural scientific knowledge of the external material world had to arise. Anyone who delves into the history of natural science, connecting with the great names of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and so on, will realize how different what was called natural science before these names came about was from what we now call the scientific approach to the world. This scientific approach has now, over the course of three to four centuries, provided humanity with a wealth of knowledge that has had a profound and far-reaching impact on all of life. And it is easy to see, if you just take a little understanding look at this life as it has developed over the last three to four centuries, the significance that scientific achievements have for the ideal and material side of life.