Editing Anthroposophy (section)

===Spiritual knowledge and freedom===
Anthroposophical proponents aim to extend the clarity of the [[scientific method]] to phenomena of human soul-life and spiritual experiences. Steiner believed this required developing new faculties of objective spiritual perception, which he maintained was still possible for contemporary humans. The steps of this process of inner development he identified as consciously achieved ''[[imagination]]'', ''[[:wikt:inspiration|inspiration]]'', and ''[[Intuition (knowledge)|intuition]]''.<ref name="Schneider">{{Cite book |last=Schneider |first=Peter |title=Einführung in die Waldorfpädagogik |date=1985 |publisher=Klett-Cotta |isbn=3-608-93006-X |publication-place=Stuttgart |language=de}}</ref> Steiner believed results of this form of spiritual research should be expressed in a way that can be understood and evaluated on the same basis as the results of natural science.<ref name="Willmann" /><ref name="Schneider20" />

Steiner hoped to form a spiritual movement that would free the individual from any external authority.<ref name="Schneider20">{{harvnb|Schneider|1985|pp=20–21}}, Schneider quotes here from Steiner's dissertation, ''Truth and Knowledge''</ref> For Steiner, the human capacity for [[rationality|rational]] thought would allow individuals to comprehend spiritual research on their own and bypass the danger of dependency on an authority such as himself.<ref name="Schneider20" />

Steiner contrasted the anthroposophical approach with both conventional [[mysticism]], which he considered lacking the clarity necessary for exact knowledge, and [[natural science]], which he considered arbitrarily limited to what can be seen, heard, or felt with the outward senses.