01881 a2200373 4500 1040312861 20250328151426.0 250324022025GB 20 eng 9781040312865 EA Taylor & Francis GBP 39.99 BB 01 eng JHBA thema QD thema JB thema GTM thema 1F bisac JHBA bic HP bic JF bic GTB bic 1F bisac SOC026040 bisac SOC008020 bisac SOC024000 bisac SOC008000 bisac 204.22 bisac Aaron French Max Weber, Rudolf Steiner, and Modern Western Esotericism A Transcultural Approach 1 Oxford Routledge 20250310 208 p This book challenges previous definitions of modernity by comparing Max Weber (1864–1920), often considered the most important sociologist of the 20th century, and Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925), founder of Waldorfpädagogik and the esoteric social reform movement of anthroposophy. While acknowledging that Weber and Steiner were different in several respects, this research illustrates that the individual histories of these two thinkers are more entangled than previously recognized. This includes the influence of esotericism on their thinking, as well as their profound concern with science and technological change and an openness to the religious and philosophical concepts of the civilizations of South and East Asia. Demonstrating the importance of non-European influences for a full understanding of modernity, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Asian and European philosophy, social theory, and Asian society. 8523 8523