The Gates of Knowledge - Paperback

by Rudolf Steiner Ph. D. (Author)

Before man enters the Path of the Higher Knowledge, he only knows the first of its four stages. It is the one which in ordinary life belongs strictly to the world of the senses. Even in what is called "science," he has to do only with this first grade of knowledge; for such science only deals with ordinary knowledge more minutely and in a disciplined way. By means of instruments such as the microscope, the telescope, etc., he makes the senses more effective, and discloses to them what they could not otherwise perceive. But he is still on the same plane of knowledge, whether he sees large things with the naked eye, or observes very small objects and phenomena by the aid of a microscope. Also in the application of thought to facts and things, such science still remains in the field of every-day life. Man arranges the objects, describes and compares them, seeks to picture to himself their variations, and so forth. The keenest naturalist does nothing fundamentally, in this respect, beyond bringing to a fine aft the methods of investigating every-day life. His knowledge takes a wider range, becomes more complex and more logical, but he does not come one step nearer to any other mode of cognition.