Editing Anthroposophy (section)

===Etymology and earlier uses of the word===
''Anthroposophy'' is an amalgam of the [[Greek language|Greek]] terms {{lang|grc|[[:wikt:ἄνθρωπος|ἄνθρωπος]]}} ({{Lang|grc-latn|anthropos}} 'human') and {{lang|grc|[[Sophia (wisdom)|σοφία]]}} ({{Lang|grc-latn|sophia}} 'wisdom'). An early English usage is recorded by [[Nathan Bailey]] (1742) as meaning "the knowledge of the nature of man".<ref>"Anthroposophy", [[OED]]</ref>

[[File:Troxler Portrait 1830.jpg|thumb|right |upright|Ignaz Paul Vitalis Troxler]]
The first known use of the term ''anthroposophy'' occurs within ''[[Arbatel|Arbatel de magia veterum, summum sapientiae studium]]'', a book published anonymously in 1575 and attributed to [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim|Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]]. The work describes anthroposophy (as well as theosophy) variously as an understanding of goodness, nature, or human affairs. In 1648, the Welsh philosopher [[Thomas Vaughan (philosopher)|Thomas Vaughan]] published his ''Anthroposophia Theomagica, or a discourse of the nature of man and his state after death.''<ref>Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes): ''Anthroposophia Theomagica, or a discourse of the nature of man and his state after death.'' Oxford 1648</ref>

The term began to appear with some frequency in philosophical works of the mid- and late-nineteenth century.<ref>The term was used for example in a [http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ilej/image1.pl?item=page&seq=1&size=1&id=nq.1863.5.9.3.71.x.373 discussion of Boehme] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928235524/http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ilej/image1.pl?item=page&seq=1&size=1&id=nq.1863.5.9.3.71.x.373 |date=2018-09-28 }} in ''[[Notes and Queries]]'', May 9, 1863, p. 373</ref> In the early part of that century, [[Ignaz Paul Vitalis Troxler|Ignaz Troxler]] used the term ''anthroposophy'' to refer to philosophy deepened to self-knowledge, which he suggested allows deeper knowledge of nature as well. He spoke of human nature as a mystical unity of God and world. [[Immanuel Hermann Fichte]] used the term ''anthroposophy'' to refer to "rigorous human self-knowledge", achievable through thorough comprehension of the human spirit and of the working of God in this spirit, in his 1856 work ''Anthropology: The Study of the Human Soul''. In 1872, the philosopher of religion [[Gideon Spicker]] used the term ''anthroposophy'' to refer to self-knowledge that would unite God and world: "the true study of the human being is the human being, and philosophy's highest aim is self-knowledge, or Anthroposophy."<ref>''Die Philosophie des Grafen von Shaftesbury'', 1872</ref>

In 1882, the philosopher [[Robert von Zimmermann|Robert Zimmermann]] published the treatise, "An Outline of Anthroposophy: Proposal for a System of Idealism on a Realistic Basis," proposing that idealistic philosophy should employ logical thinking to extend empirical experience.<ref>''Anthroposophie im Umriß. Entwurf eines Systems idealer Weltsicht auf realistischer Grundlage'', 1882</ref> Steiner attended lectures by Zimmermann at the [[University of Vienna]] in the early 1880s, thus at the time of this book's publication.<ref>Robert Zimmermann ''Geschichte der Aesthetik als philosophische Wissenschaft. Vienna, 1858. Anthroposophie im Umriss-Entwurf eines Systems idealer Weltansicht auf realistischer Grundlage.'' (Vienna, 1882): Steiner, ''Anthroposophic Movement'': Lecture Two: ''The Unveiling of Spiritual Truths'', 11 June 1923.[http://wn.rsarchive.org/Lectures/GA258/English/RSP1993/19230611p01.html]</ref>

In the early 1900s, Steiner began using the term ''anthroposophy'' (i.e. human wisdom) as an alternative to the term ''theosophy'' (i.e. divine wisdom).