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Anthroposophy’s Double Gesture: Dan McKanan’s Eco-Alchemy and Its Meaning for Goethean Science

Gigi Berardi
Elemente der Naturwissenschaft 110, 2019, P. 99-125 | DOI: 10.18756/edn.110.99
Book Review | Language: English | Open Access
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Abstract:

A recent book, Eco-Alchemy, by Harvard Professor of Divinity Dan McKanan provides an insightful look into environmentalism and anthroposophy, and into their intrinsic overlap. The topic is an ambitious one, as evidenced by the book’s subtitle: Anthroposophy and the History and Future of Environmentalism. A retelling of environmentalism’s story would be a daunting project in itself, much less inserting anthroposophy into it.

In this essay, I aim to use McKanan’s book as a point of departure to discuss the relationships between the two. In doing so, I’ll note some of the book’s highlights regarding nodes of intersection and consider some of the points where McKanan has fallen short either in overemphasis or in oversimplification. 

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