In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a Zeitgeist (; ; capitalized in German) is a way of referring to the intellectual, cultural, ethical and political climate of a given epoch in world history. It is often described as an invisible agent, force, or daemon that seems to dominate the characteristics of a particular period. The term is usually associated with Georg W. F. Hegel, contrasting with Hegel's use of Volksgeist ("national spirit") and Weltgeist ("world-spirit"), although the word itself predates Hegel and was popularized by Johann Gottfried Herder and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

The expression belongs to a wider family of notions such as "spirit of the age", "spirit of the times" or genius saeculi ("spirit of the century"), which had circulated in Latin and the major European languages since the early modern period to express the idea that people's thoughts and actions are shaped by the social environment of their time rather than only by timeless truths or individual genius. In 1769 Herder translated the Latin phrase ' used by the philologist Christian Adolph Klotz as Zeitgeist in his aesthetic essay Kritische Wälder, and the term was taken up in later discussions of philosophy of history and history of ideas. Other philosophers who were associated with related ideas include Herbert Spencer and Voltaire. The term is widely used, often without translation, in many languages to denote the "spirit" or dominant climate of a particular period.

Concept and uses

Writers in sociology, cultural history and social psychology often use zeitgeist to describe a diffuse system of ideas, images and values that underpins the practices, behaviours and creations of a given period, shaping both individual lives and collective life while remaining only partly conscious to the actors involved. From this perspective, the zeitgeist can be treated as an ideal type in the sense of Max Weber: an analytic construct that accentuates certain traits in order to make sense of a complex historical reality, while admitting internal diversity and conflict.

Because it names what appears self-evident or "in the air" at a given moment, the notion is often used critically. Historians and theorists have pointed out that appeals to the zeitgeist can obscure social conflicts, overlook minority or dissident positions, or suggest a misleading uniformity in the culture of an age. Others have emphasized that describing the zeitgeist of a period always involves an act of interpretation from a particular standpoint, and that competing accounts of an era's spirit may coexist.

Theory of leadership

Hegel in Phenomenology of the Spirit (1807) uses both Weltgeist and Volksgeist, but prefers the phrase Geist der Zeiten "spirit of the times" over the compound Zeitgeist.

The Hegelian concept is in contrast to the Great Man theory propounded by Thomas Carlyle, which sees history as the result of the actions of heroes and geniuses. In contrast, Hegel perceived such "great men", specifically Napoleon, as the "embodiment of the world-spirit" (Die Weltseele zu Pferde "the world-soul on horseback"). Carlyle stresses that leaders do not become leaders by fate or accident. Instead, these individuals possess characteristics of great leaders and these characteristics allow them to obtain positions of power.

According to Hegel biographer D. R. Forsyth, Leo Tolstoy disagreed with Carlyle's perspective, instead believing that leadership, like other things, was a product of the "zeitgeist",<!--are we claiming Tolstoy used the term (when? where?) or are we just saying that Forsyth idly mentions Tolstoy and Zeitgeist alongside one another?--> the social circumstances at the time.) have argued that much innovation has been shaped by easy access to the Internet, open source software, component technologies for both hardware and software (e.g., software libraries, software as a service), and the ability to reach narrow markets across a global market. Peter Thiel has commented: "There is so much incrementalism now."

In a zeitgeist market, the number of new entrants is high, differentiation in high-value products (the strongest predictor of new product success) is more difficult to achieve, and business models emphasizing service and solution over product and process, will enhance success. Examples include innovation in product experience, legal rights and bundling, privacy rights, and agency (where businesses act on behalf of customers).

See also

The Zeitgeist Movement

References

<!-- DO NOT SHILL FOR THAT ZEITGEIST MOVIE HERE -->

  • Christian Adolph Klotz
  • Christian Adolf Klotz in: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4. Aufl., 1888, Vol. 9, Page 859