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'This book is a tribute to [Stein's] appreciation of the land of
his adoption and, to those who knew him, it is a monument to his
penetrative powers of spiritual perception.' - A.P. Shepherd At a
time when British identity is being reassessed and questioned, W.J.
Stein's classic and timeless study, with its penetrative analysis
of the character, psychology and destiny of the British people,
takes on new relevance. Stein, a political refugee from Austria,
spent the last 24 years of his life in Britain. As an outsider, he
was able to view British custom and culture with objectivity. As a
student of Rudolf Steiner, he brought years of spiritual study and
wisdom to the writing of this book, enabling profound insights. In
this concise and aphoristic study, Stein writes on everything from
geography, history, politics and economics to the arts (in
particular painting and music) and religion. He also reflects on
the British concept of freedom, as well as Great Britain's somewhat
mysterious propensity to extend itself - and its language and
culture - across the world. 'Amidst the international turmoils of
today the Delphic word can be heard to resound from all sides, in
its metamorphosed form: "Know yourselves as folk-souls!" Stein's
little book is an invaluable contribution to such a
super-individual self-knowledge.' - T.H. Meyer
he radical viewpoint of phenomenology is presented by T 3 Edmund
Husser! in his Ideas. This viewpoint seems quite simple at first,
but becomes exceedingly complex and involves intricate distinctions
when attempts are made to apply it to actual problems. Therefore,
it may be well to attempt a short statement of this position in
order to note the general problems with which it is dealing as well
as the method of solution which it proposes. I shall emphasize the
elements of phenomenology which seem most relevant to E. Stein's
work. Husser! deals with two traditional philosophical questions,
and in answering them, develops the method of phenomenological
reduction which he maintains is the basis of all science. These
questions are, "What is it that can be known without doubt?" and
"How is this knowledge possible in the most general sense?" In the
tradition of idealism he takes consciousness as the area to be
investigated. He posits nothing about the natural world. He puts it
in "brackets," as a portion of an algebraic formula is put in
brackets, and makes no use of the material within these brackets.
This does not mean that the "real" wor!d does not exist, he says
emphatically; it only means that this existence is a presupposition
must be suspended to achieve pure description.
he radical viewpoint of phenomenology is presented by T 3 Edmund
Husser! in his Ideas. This viewpoint seems quite simple at first,
but becomes exceedingly complex and involves intricate distinctions
when attempts are made to apply it to actual problems. Therefore,
it may be well to attempt a short statement of this position in
order to note the general problems with which it is dealing as well
as the method of solution which it proposes. I shall emphasize the
elements of phenomenology which seem most relevant to E. Stein's
work. Husser! deals with two traditional philosophical questions,
and in answering them, develops the method of phenomenological
reduction which he maintains is the basis of all science. These
questions are, "What is it that can be known without doubt?" and
"How is this knowledge possible in the most general sense?" In the
tradition of idealism he takes consciousness as the area to be
investigated. He posits nothing about the natural world. He puts it
in "brackets," as a portion of an algebraic formula is put in
brackets, and makes no use of the material within these brackets.
This does not mean that the "real" wor!d does not exist, he says
emphatically; it only means that this existence is a presupposition
must be suspended to achieve pure description.
Much plagiarized and its contents distorted over the years, Stein's
seminal work is a classic of original scholarly and spiritual
research. In studying the central Grail narrative of Parzival by
Wolfram von Eschenbach, Stein takes a twofold approach. On the one
hand he searches historical records in order to identify actual
people and events hidden behind the Grail epic's veil of romance,
and on the other hand he deciphers Eschenbach's hidden spiritual
messages, showing Parzival to be an esoteric document containing
mighty pictures of the human being's inner path of development.
Stein reveals the period of the ninth century to be of more than
historical and academic interest. It is the karmic ground out of
which the destiny of modern times grows - the mighty battle that
must take place between the powers of the Grail and the sinister
anti-Grail forces at large today.
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