The Intellectual Life

These words from German philosopher Friedrich Schelling are the leitmotif of this new intellectual online experience.

You have likely found your way here because you are looking to live the life of the mind — or ways to improve and enhance your current intellectual life. This course might just be what you have been looking for.

This course is unique in that it draws on thinkers as diverse as Plato, Baudrillard, Goethe, Sertillanges, Hadot and many more to weave together the ultimate guide for the life of the mind in the hyperdigital age.

At the same time the course also pays attention to our physical needs and how to exercise and eat, when to work and when to contemplate in order to enhance the life of the mind online and offline.

Learn how to ennoble your soul by spending your free time wisely and filled with enriching and inspiring pursuits. The Romans called this the life worthy of otium cum dignitate, leisure with dignity.

I have developed this course for those noble souls and free spirits out there who wish to live up to the glorious ideal of genuine self-cultivation.

One central idea is simplicity. This course will help you learn how to focus on your work and your interests by simplifying your life. Nietzsche famously refers to simplicity as holy in his call to Free Spirits, the philosophers of the future. And we here heed his call.

The course consists of more than thirty video essays (incl. audio files). But it will continue to grow! I consider this course a living document to which over time I will add further documents, video and audio lectures, as well as images and literature references.

When you sign up once, you get lifetime access to all future additions as well!

Johannes is founder and spiritus rector of Halkyon Guild & Academy. After more than five years as a teacher of philosophy at UK universities he decided to embark on a new journey at the frontier of digital learning and teaching.

At the heart of Johannes' contributions stands the Halkyon Philosophy Academy, an institution he has founded to embody and promote the classical Bildungs-ideal— where we aspire to sculpt and cultivate the soul, spirit, and character in the crucible of thought and dialogue. This pursuit aligns harmoniously with his teaching of philosophy, fostering an environment wherein intellectual life is not merely studied but authentically lived and passionately shared with his students.

Photo by Adam Toth

This course is for those of you who are looking for genuine guidance in an over-stimulated world. Whether you're a romantic looking for guidance on how to act in the world. Or a person of action who feels their contemplative side needs more attention.

This course is for you who searches for ways to self-cultivate and educate outside the reign of instrumental rationality.

This is a course for the Bohemians of the 21st century.

Whether you're a student or already in full-time work or a retiree— now is the time to embark on your intellectual journey.

Dr. Niederhauser's course on The Intellectual Life is a stimulating and insightful exploration of the creative possibilities for carrying out intellectual work in the 21st century. I came away from the course with new ideas, not only for how to carry out intellectual work on an independent platform, but also why such work is important and the creative possibilities it affords. Johannes is an accomplished thinker and academic and the depth of his engagement with the students enrolled in his course was impressive and inspiring. Here you won't get old, recirculated ideas, but fresh and insightful engagement with ideas from within and without the philosophical tradition. Johannes challenges his students to think deeply and creatively about the issues that are gripping them and does so in the best possible way. I encourage anyone interested in engaging philosophy deeply to enrol.

Combining the philosophical underpinnings of the great thinker's lessons on learning with practical advice on how to find your medium and even set up a blog, the Halkyon Guild's Intellectual Life course is an inspirational way to get started with your own intellectual project or reinvigorate your commitment to an existing one. 

"I have had the pleasure of partaking in several of Johannes' courses. Having an MA in Contemporary European Philosophy, the Halkyon Guild courses enrich my own philosophical journey immensely because of both the fascinating content and delivery styles. Firstly, the information is giving in a number of ways, written, audio and video lectures before the course commencement. Lectures offer an opportunity to discuss the philosophies and this really helps to broaden concepts and lines of inquiry. Halkyon Guild courses encourage my own creative exploration in my writing. At the end of each course there is an opportunity to present your philosophical ideas and musings in a short and varied format. Secondly, Halkyon Guild’s online forum is a place to further engage in dialogue on course materials, to read the work presented by other participants, or to present a longer version of your working ideas. 

I find the encouragement here is fantastic and makes being a modern day philosopher a joy. 

The platform, content, and delivery of each course has fulfilled my learning styles and I am confident in the knowledge I am acquiring. 

I look forward to attending more courses in the near future." — 

"Johannes is an excellent teacher, in the best sense of the word. And the Halkyon Academy is what university once was. Regardless if you are a Ph.D student or just a lover of wisdom with no formal academic training this is the place to come and explore important thinkers and ideals that are relevant today! 

 Halkyon is a wonderful mixture of lecture, self-study, and productive dialogue that results in an environment of personal growth and mature philosophical thinking. I have enrolled in 5 courses so far and they have reignited the passion for philosophical discourse and study that I had as a master's student - present to the transformational power of genuine philosophical inquriy. 

​In a world of internet "Gurus" Johannes is a real teacher with an actual Ph.D. and a book published on Heidegger and Death. He is a humble, careful thinker, who is not afraid to challenge your thoughts with a twist of wit and generosity. I have found a philosophical home again. Thanks, Johannes, and to all the other Halkyon members on the path. It has been a joy, and I look forward to more to come!" 

 ~ Transformational Coach, Founder of Rising Phoenix Wellness, Realtor

"Why study philosophy? To learn the complex systems of thought of the world’s great thinkers and to learn how to think more precisely, deeply, and creatively.

And the way to learn well is by reading the primary texts and secondary literature, developing a writing praxis to reflect upon and create from what has been learned, having a teacher who himself has thought and written deeply, and participating in a community of peers who taking the learning as seriously as you do.

With this in mind, I'm here to say – testify – that Dr. Johannes Niederhauser is the real deal!

Since the internet is an unregulated marketplace, it offers thinkers who are but a step or two ahead of you but who pretend to levels of understandings they have not yet achieved.

Johannes has the depth of thought crucial to avoiding philosophical missteps and misunderstandings as evidenced by his years of teaching at university and writing a careful and creative treatise on Heideggerian thought.

The community that Johannes has built, the Halkyon Guild, is a community I have become part of and cherish. I am now taking my fourth course at the Halkyon Guild and I have loved them all. I am grateful to Johannes for building what he has built and for the courses he offers, and I encourage you to join us."

— Executive Director American Physician Institute for Advanced Professional Studies