ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a historic reflection on the current paradigm of science, which is often seen placatively as the very epitome of modern thought clearly demarcated from pre-scientific forms of reasoning. It discusses and explains Steiner's epistemological concepts in detail and shows that there is hardly another pedagogy like Waldorf education, which is developed from the foundation of an explicit and thought-out epistemology satisfying strict criteria of observation and fully meeting the demand for rational transparency in continuous discourse. The explicit epistemic foundations of Waldorf education are on hand; however, that does not mean that they are easily understood and that their acceptance is a given. Rather the opposite appears to be true, and Steiner's epistemology and anthroposophy seem to require explanation and substantiation in turn. Jean Gebser describes how humankind first emerged from the embracing matrix of nature by developing structures of magical consciousness.
