Response: 11/27/11

The joint class brought forth a lot of great connections and concepts to consider. The lives and work of Hegel and Beethoven were bizarre and intriguing. Sonata form connected with Hegel's Dialect in a similar 3-step process both ending with their parts becoming "aufgehoben". The use of German vocabulary was a nice touch as well to tie into the unit.

I particularly enjoyed the group discussions and ending class discussion. It was a very effective method for students to branch off into separate trains of thought per group and then combine collaborate each group's perspective on the matters. During the discussion, many different points were brought up about the questions we received.

In our small group, the inevitability of music and philosophy reflecting the zeitgeist seemed to not be inevitable at all. The concept of the zeitgeist suggests that ideas come before humans and manifest our consciousnesses, yet we believed that we form our own ideas based on our experiences and preexisting culture in order to enhance/evolve our culture.

Finally, we talked about what the zeitgeist is today. I personally thought that if such a spirit existed, then the zeitgeist would be stretched too thin to have any effect on our minds today. Culture has been altered to the extent that all of the possible ideas branching from the existing cultures are capable of obtaining appreciation. One zeitgeist cannot simply dictate our creativity, unless it has evolved enough to encompass every blend of concepts imaginable. Perhaps it's true that the wheels have stopped spinning, but there are still endless combinations of our known attributes that may posses their own sense of uniqueness.

With a less serious tone, I think the concept of the zeitgeist could be taken to account for the common inspirations between artists in specific time periods. It's certainly not coincidence, but to give the zeitgeist mythological-like qualities such as possessing our minds with ideas which have lives of their own seems far-fetched.