The Course
Goethe's Faust Part 2 is arguably his true Faust. A wild fragmentary mixture of alchemy, finance, progress, and myth colliding. In this course we will move act by act: from the Emperor’s court and the birth of paper/fiat money, through the production of the homunculus, through the Classical Walpurgis Night and Faust's relationship with Helen, to Faust's late-life ambition and land-development schemes; in order to see the entirety of Faust as the myth of how we became modern. We will be reading the text closely spending two weeks on each act. Expect wild discussions on this whirlwind of a text which we have not even begun to come to terms with.
By the end of this course, you’ll be fluent in Goethe's Faust 2 and thus also with reading such multi-layered texts. You'll create a keen eye for understanding how the modern world works, from power, credit, technology, to nation-building. You’ll learn to connect court politics to modern monetary policy, visionary projects to environmental engineering and urban planning, and seductive bargains to leadership ethics and innovation culture. And also see which relationship we can still have with Antiquity.
Goethe's Faust Part 2 is one of the most pivotal mythopoetic works of modernity. As such we will understand it as a work that writes our destiny.
You want to understand what it means to be of this age. You want to grasp what made modernity and where it might be going.
What you will learn
Across ten lectures and seminars we will devote two weeks on each act. The main reading will be Goethe's Faust Part 2. Where it makes sense I will link to further texts on the matter in the curriculum. If you enrol in the seminars or above there will be writing three assignments with clear submission guidelines that help you develop your piece for the Symposium.
Developing your thoughts, reviving and rejuvenating your capacity to think by learning how to write clearly as well as articulating your thoughts is the focus. You will learn to engage more meaningfully with the world and yourself in it.
Seminars, Writing Assignments & Private Tutorials
There will be 11 live lectures & seminars in total.
The first live lecture and seminar will take place on the Easter weekend, on Saturday, the 4th of April, 2026, from 6-8pm CET/ 12pm-2pm. All sessions are recorded and made available for the group. We will meet on 10 consecutive Saturdays, from 4 April till 6 June. The Symposium will take place on 20 June.
If you enrol in the seminars you will be able to submit three short writing assignments in week 3, 6, 9. More details to follow when you enrol. You may also present your final work at the Symposium.
If you enrol in the private tutorials, you will meet with Dr. Johannes A. Niederhauser privately in weeks 3,6 &9 to discuss your thoughts and work in depth. You may also submit up to six writing assignments. You may also present your final work at the Symposium.
If you enrol as self-study you may submit one essay during the length of the course.
Student Discount
If you are a currently enrolled university student please email us proof of enrolment at halkyon@halkyonguild.org
We will then issue a personalised coupon for you.
Curriculum
The curriculum block is dynamic. As you add curriculum to your course, you'll see it automatically populate here.
Your Teacher: Dr. Johannes A. Niederhauser
I’m Johannes A. Niederhauser, founder and spiritus rector of the Halkyon Academy. a philosopher with a PhD from Warwick on Martin Heidegger. My work on Heidegger and German Idealism—including a review of Heidegger’s notes on Hegel’s negativity in the Hegel Bulletin and a book on Heidegger—shapes how I read Goethe’s Faust Part II: as a living drama of spirit, history, and freedom. This background lets me guide you through the poem’s philosophical depths without losing sight of its theatrical power and poetic music.
As founder of the Halkyon Philosophy Academy, I’m committed to the classical ideal of Bildung—the formation of soul, spirit, and character through patient thinking and dialogue. In this course, I bring that ethos to close reading and conversation: attending to Goethe’s language and images, tracing the work’s dialectical movements, and connecting its scenes—from imperial finance to the classical world—to questions that matter to us now.