Zeitgeist

The Zeitgeist (spirit of the age or spirit of the time) is the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought that typifies and influences the culture of a particular period in time. For example, the Zeitgeist of modernism typified and influenced architecture, art, and fashion during much of the 20th century.

The German word Zeitgeist is often attributed to the philosopher Georg Hegel, but he never actually used the word. In his works such as Lectures on the Philosophy of History, he uses the phrase der Geist seiner Zeit (the spirit of his time)—for example, "no man can surpass his own time, for the spirit of his time is also his own spirit."

Other philosophers who were associated with such ideas include Herder and Spencer and Voltaire. The concept contrasts with the Great Man theory popularized by Thomas Carlyle, which sees history as the result of the actions of heroes and geniuses.

Hegel believed that art reflected, by its very nature, the culture of the time in which it is created. Culture and art are inextricable because an individual artist is a product of his or her time and therefore brings that culture to any given work of art. Furthermore, he believed that in the modern world it was impossible to produce classical art, which he believed represented a "free and ethical culture", which depended more on the philosophy of art and theory of art, rather than a reflection of the social construct, or Zeitgeist in which a given artist lives.

Luis

Luis (and its variant forms) is the Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, Aragonese form of the Germanic given name Hludowig and Chlodovech (modern German Ludwig). The Germanic name is composed of the words for "fame" (hlūd) and "warrior" (wīg) which may be translated to famous warrior or "famous in battle".

List of people with the given name Luis

Zeitgeist (film series)

Zeitgeist: The Movie is a documentary film with two sequels: Zeitgeist: Addendum and Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, presenting a number of conspiracy theories and proposals for broad social and economic changes. Peter Joseph created all three films.

Zeitgeist: The Movie

Zeitgeist: The Movie is a 2007 documentary-style film by Peter Joseph presenting a number of conspiracy theories. The film disputes the historicity of Jesus (the Christ myth theory) and claims that the September 11 attacks in 2001 were pre-arranged by New World Order forces, and claims that bankers manipulate world events. In Zeitgeist, it is claimed that the Federal Reserve was behind several wars and manipulates the American public for a One World Government or "New World Order".

The Zeitgeist film, according to writer Paul Constant, is "based solely on anecdotal evidence, it's probably drawing more people into the Truth movement than anything else".Jay Kinney questioned the accuracy of its claims and the quality of its arguments, describing it as agitprop and propaganda.

Peter Joseph

Peter Joseph is an American independent filmmaker and activist. He is best known for the Zeitgeist film series, which he wrote, directed, narrated, scored, and produced. He is the founder of the related The Zeitgeist Movement. Other professional work includes directing the music video God Is Dead? for the band Black Sabbath

Early life and education

According to Joseph he was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and attended high school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. After graduation, he moved to New York City to pursue a career in solo classical percussion performance, attending the New School for Social Research.

Career

Joseph began his professional career working in advertising and as a private equity trader on Wall Street. In 2007 he produced a live performance art piece that he entitled "Zeitgeist." The production was never intended for distribution, but was released online and went viral with millions of views. It became the first in a trilogy of films produced by Joseph, the others being Zeitgeist:Addendum and Zeitgeist:Moving Forward, released in 2008 and 2011 respectively.

The Zeitgeist Movement

The Zeitgeist Movement was established in 2008 by Peter Joseph and advocates a transformation of society and its economic system.

Overview

The Zeitgeist Movement was formed in 2008 by Peter Joseph shortly after the late 2008 release of Zeitgeist: Addendum, the second film in the 'Zeitgeist' film series. In its first year the group described itself as "the activist arm of the Venus Project. In April 2011, the two groups separated over disagreements in goals and objectives.

The group advocates transformation of the economic system to a global post-scarcity economy or resource-based economy. The proposed economy does not use money and is claimed to be more sustainable than the contemporary socioeconomic structure. VC Reporter's Shane Cohn summarized the movement's charter as: "Our greatest social problems are the direct results of our economic system". The group is critical of market capitalism describing it as structurally corrupt and inefficient in the use of resources. According to The Daily Telegraph, the group dismisses historic religious concepts as misleading and embraces a version of sustainable ecological concepts and scientific administration of society.