The Worldview of Rudolf Steiner

The study delves into the process of formation of the worldview of Rudolf Steiner, a thinker who rightfully earned the title "Homo universalis" at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. There is a complex connection between the influences that shaped his intellectual baggage: from the philosophy of Eduard von Hartmann’s pessimism and the ethical idealism of Johann Gottlieb Fichte to the dialectics of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. A special place in the study is occupied by the analysis of Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s teaching on color, which became a cornerstone in the formation of the Steiner worldview. Inspired by the genius of the great poet, Steiner develops his ideas about the profound effect of color on the human psyche, on the train of thought, modes of behavior and shades of mood. This impulse leads to the creation of an original aesthetic, a special vision of the essence of art and its role in public life. Art appears as an extension of nature, but carried out by more sublime means. All this becomes the foundation for building a unique concept of the spiritual and cultural evolution of mankind, in which man is thought of as an inseparable unity of the physical and spiritual, sensual and supersensible worlds. The article also examines the echo of R. Steiner’s ideas in Russian culture and analyzes the key principles of Waldorf pedagogy. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.