Nina Power
Zeitgeist

All political regimes depend upon myths to justify their continued existence. In periods of great upheaval, these myths start to unravel. As post-war liberalism faces collapse, it is imperative we have a handle on how to think about not just the past, present and future, but that we understand the way in which concepts function historically: how do humanity’s great abstractions function over time?

What is the relationship between ideas and material forces? Are there such things as historical facts? What is the relationship between history and culture? Is history linear or cyclical? Are human beings passive vectors of forces, or do they possess the will to alter the future? 

Introduction by Nina Power

Zeitgeist is a four-part course led by Nina Power. It reads key thinkers in the philosophy of history. The sessions consider the emergence and ends of history as chaos, stasis, progress, and providence.

The readings (many of which are available in print from the Verdurin store) include texts by Herodotus, Vico, Condorcet, Kant, Hegel, Marx, de Maistre, Dilthey, Collingwood, Danto, Lasch, Spengler, Foucault, MacIntyre, Koselleck, Biggar.

In-person participation

The next edition of Zeitgeist takes place in autumn 2025. Each two-hour session will combine both lecture and group discussion of the reading for that week.

Registration for in-person participation is £100. A limited number of concessions is available. Please get in touch.

Online course version

An online, independent study version of the course is available. It consists of specially-recorded lectures and a reading list for each module.

Registration for the online course is £55. Once you have joined, you can access the course content here.