Anthroposophy and Ecofascism 52

Continuing my commentary on the 14th paragraph of Peter Staudenmaier's Anthroposophy and Ecofascism.

Stating that anthroposophists use the term “Aryan race” to this day is mistaken, and reveals an utter ignorance of all subsequent anthroposophical literature and a complete lack of familiarity with current anthroposophical discourse. Anthroposophy was barely three years old when Steiner dropped the use of the term "Aryan" as misleading, and the number of anthroposophists at that point was small. Since that time it has been universally referred to as the Post-Atlantean Epoch. The smaller epochs are named after the culture (culture, not race) that is considered most prominent during that era. However, it is explicitly clear that these are not the only cultures of importance during that era. As Steiner was quoted as saying above, every culture is an important part of the whole, just as every individual is an important part of the whole of humanity. The present 5 th Post-Atlantean Cultural Epoch is most frequently referred to only as “the 5 th Post-Atlantean Cultural Epoch.”* It has also been called, in numerous places, the Anglo-Germanic, after the dominant cultural trends of our time. I have not found a single reference to it being called the “nordic-germanic sub-race” in Steiner's works or in subsequent literature. In fact Peter Staudenmaier has not listed any reference for this alleged fact; it is stands as a fabrication. Indeed, this demonstrates that it is necessary to fabricate source material to make a case against Anthroposophy, a thoroughly cosmopolitan and progressively humanistic philosophy.

Peter Staudenmaier is clearly well versed in the literature of race and European racism. His explanation of race as a social construct is commonly accepted, and whether race has any scientific meaning has also been debated at quite some length, and the debate itself summarized numerous times. The history of "the Aryan Race" as an idea has been researched quite thoroughly (See among others Mosse, George. Toward the Final Solution: A History of European Racism. New York: Howard Fertig, 1978, especially pages 39-45.)and Peter Staudenmaier has cited several excellent books on the subject. What he has failed to do is properly understand Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy before painting them racist with broad strokes.

* Among literally thousands of examples:

"We know that since the great Atlantean catastrophe… there have been five great epochs of civilization. We designate these as the ancient Indian, the ancient Persian, the Egypto-Chaldean, the Greco-Latin, and the epoch we presently live in."

Steiner, Rudolf. The Universal Human: The Evolution of Individuality. New York: Anthroposophic Press, 1990. Page 7.