Wolfgang Müller-Funk

What relevance do anthroposophy and the teachings of Rudolf Steiner have for the world today? Spiritual thinker Wolfgang Müller was initially sceptical that anthroposophy had any contemporary value. It wasn't until many years after his first encounter with the challenging and sometimes controversial worldview that a closer study of Steiner's writings prompted him to make a radical reappraisal. In this thought-provoking book, Müller explains how anthroposophy, far from being out of touch with the modern world, has important contributions to make towards our understanding of contemporary life. He shows, for example, how anthroposophy builds on the insights of natural science to explore the inner life of human beings, and how its progressive view of human spiritual development can help us better understand the world's religions. He looks at anthroposophy's approach to medicine, which takes into account both the physical and spiritual aspects of human beings, and goes on to consider Steiner's social and political ideas, which seek to bring our public spheres of culture, politics and economics into greater balance. Finally, Müller explores accusations of racism that have been made against Steiner in recent years and shows how they are fundamentally at odds with Steiner's view of a truly universal humanity. This book offers a balanced and well-researched contemporary perspective on anthroposophy from a former sceptic and will be of value to anyone looking for alternative ways of understanding our world.

In a humane world, cruelty should not exist, and yet it has been a feature of our societies since time immemorial. From individual acts of cruelty to systematic torture and mass murder, cruelty has been humanity’s constant companion, attesting to a darker side of human nature. Cruelty involves the use of violence but it is more than this, since it is organized and calculated; its intention is to inflict pain and suffering on others, even to destroy the other. Cruelty is perhaps the ultimate form of violence in which the extermination of the other is staged as a threat in order to make others compliant or instil in them the fear of death. In this wide-ranging cultural history, Wolfgang Müller-Funk examines the ways in which different thinkers and authors – from Herodotus to Nietzsche, from Seneca to Musil and Koestler – have conceptualized and tried to make sense of a phenomenon we would prefer to ignore. He seeks to unveil the conditions under which an economy of cruelty emerges, in which violence is calculated and becomes a quasi-natural matter of course. The economy of cruelty involves the efficient use of means to pursue irrational goals. It also involves discourses and narrative patterns that legitimize organized violence and neutralize emotions, such as empathy and compassion, that would restrain or obstruct the pursuit of cruelty. This disturbing inquiry into the nature of cruelty and its role in human culture will be of interest to students and scholars throughout the humanities and to a wide general readership.

Co vlastně znamená být cizí, cítit se cize, být vnímán jako cizí? Transdisciplinárně pojatá publikace vysvětluje různé přístupy k fenoménu alterity (jinakosti) v sociálních vědách, psychoanalýze a filozofii od Hegela až po postkolonialismus. Kniha zohledňuje také teorie fantastična, imagologii, souvislosti alterity a překladu nebo perspektivu diferenčního feminismu. Díky širokému spektru přístupů umožňuje spolehlivou orientaci v poli, které v době globalizace, dramatických interkulturních procesů a migračních vln nabývá stále většího významu.

Co vlastně znamená být cizí, cítit se cize, být vnímán jako cizí? Transdisciplinárně pojatá publikace vysvětluje různé přístupy k fenoménu alterity (jinakosti) v sociálních vědách, psychoanalýze a filozofii od Hegela až po postkolonialismus. Kniha zohledňuje také teorie fantastična, imagologii, souvislosti alterity a překladu nebo perspektivu diferenčního feminismu. Díky širokému spektru přístupů umožňuje spolehlivou orientaci v poli, které v době globalizace, dramatických interkulturních procesů a migračních vln nabývá stále většího významu.