Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, and esotericist who founded Anthroposophy — a spiritual philosophy that sought to apply scientific rigour to the investigation of higher, supersensible worlds. His ideas gave rise to Waldorf education, biodynamic agriculture, and anthroposophical medicine.

Steiner's early philosophical work engaged Goethe's epistemology and Fichte's idealism. His later Anthroposophy synthesised European occultism with a developmental philosophy of consciousness, claiming that trained spiritual perception can investigate supersensible realities. His educational philosophy, embodied in Waldorf schools worldwide, emphasises the whole child across artistic, practical, and intellectual dimensions.