This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. (March 2018) |
In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a Zeitgeist[1] (German pronunciation: [ˈtsaɪtɡaɪst] ⓘ; lit. 'spirit of the age'; capitalized in German) is an invisible agent, force, or daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history.[2] The term is usually associated with Georg W. F. Hegel, contrasting with Hegel's use of Volksgeist "national spirit" and Weltgeist "world-spirit".
Its coinage and popularization precede Hegel, and are mostly due to Herder and Goethe.[3] Other philosophers who were associated with such concepts include Spencer[year needed] and Voltaire.[year needed][4]
Contemporary use of the term sometimes, more colloquially, is similar to the Overton Window in referring to a schema of fashions or fads that prescribe what is considered to be acceptable or tasteful for an era: e.g., in fields like architecture, psychotherapy, or journalism.[4]