Rudolf Steiner’s Elemental Phenomenology: From Goethe’s Participatory Method to the Metamorphosis of Consciousness

Rudolf Steiner’s Spiritual Science is an application of the Goethean method of observation beyond the world of the physical senses. While it includes the study of so-called “etheric” processes of metamorphosis in nature, Spiritual Science is also recursive, involving the observation of observation itself—that is, observation of the metamorphosis of the researcher. 
Steiner’s description of the process of cosmic evolution—which includes the deeds of various angelic and demonic beings—may at first seem incredible, to put it mildly, to today’s more materialistic common sense. My paper explores the historical precursors and onto-epistemic presuppositions of what I call Steiner’s Elemental Phenomenology in the hopes that its philosophical justifications can be clarified. Such clarity is unlikely to convince skeptics, but it may at least allow for honest critical assessment to replace incredulous scorn. The key desideratum, for Steiner, is to overcome the modern bifurcation between moral and physical dimensions of the universe. For example, in Steiner’s earliest cosmic phase—Old Saturn—the only discernable quality is a spiritual warmth arising from the sacrificial self-immolation of the Thrones offered to the Cherubim. Steiner insists our experience of heat is not merely a consequence of molecular kinetic energy but an expression of this primordial sacrifice.
Most secular intellectuals have come to accept that a materialistic version of evolutionary theory provides a satisfying—empirically adequate and rationally consistent—account of how human beings came to be. But glaring philosophical gaps remain unaddressed. The onto-epistemic status of consciousness in an evolving cosmos is perhaps the central question underlying not only our spiritual aspirations, but also the basis of scientific knowledge itself. Why is the universe intelligible, and how are we to account for our own existence as intelligent agents capable of scientific inquiry? My paper will flesh out how Steiner’s Elemental Phenomenology attempts to answer these questions by first directing our attention back upon itself.