Free will

There is no generally accepted definition for the term free will or freedom of will, and whether or not freedom of will exists at all is disputed. Colloquially, free will is understood to mean something different than in legal or psychological usage. Even in philosophy, the term is not uniformly defined. In an interdisciplinary sense, freedom of will includes the subjectively perceived human ability to make a conscious decision when faced with various choices.

Rudolf Steiner's views on the freedom of the will

According to Rudolf Steiner, to speak of the freedom of the will is nonsensical per se. Rather, the freedom of the human being lies in the fact that he can recognise the laws of his actions and base his decisions on them. The starting point of freedom is therefore never the will, which reigns deep below the threshold of consciousness, but rather the freedom of thought, which man can attain in pure, sensuality-free thinking through moral intuition and thereby freely shape his actions. With good reason, therefore, Marquis von Posa says to King Philip II in Schiller's "Don Karlos": "Give freedom of thought!" - and not: "Give freedom of will!"

„Read in my "Philosophy of Freedom" what great importance I have attached to not asking about the freedom of the will. It sits below, deep down in the unconscious, and it is nonsense to ask about the freedom of the will; one can only speak of the freedom of thought. I have kept this apart in my "Philosophy of Freedom". Free thoughts must then impulse the will, and then man is free.“ (Lit.:GA 235, p. 46ff)

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: Die Philosophie der Freiheit, GA 4 (1995), ISBN 3-7274-0040-4; Tb 627, ISBN 978-3-7274-6271-9 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Schriften. Kritische Ausgabe / Band 2: Philosophische Schriften: Wahrheit und Wissenschaft. Die Philosophie der Freiheit, frommann-holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2016, ISBN 978-3772826320
• Rudolf Steiner: Die Philosophie der Freiheit, Mit beiden Ausgaben (1894 u. 1918) im Vergleich, Rudolf Steiner Ausgaben, 3. Aufl. 2015, ISBN 978-3-86772-072-4
• Rudolf Steiner: Geschichtliche Notwendigkeit und Freiheit. Schicksalseinwirkungen aus der Welt der Toten, GA 179 (1993), ISBN 3-7274-1790-0 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Die Brücke zwischen der Weltgeistigkeit und dem Physische des Menschen, GA 202 (1993), ISBN 3-7274-2020-0 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Esoterische Betrachtungen karmischer Zusammenhänge. Erster Band, GA 235 (1994), ISBN 3-7274-2350-1 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Neugestaltung des sozialen Organismus, GA 330 (1983), ISBN 3-7274-3300-0 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.