Halkyon Academy
Learn only in order to create!
German Idealism
A full overview of the most important philosophers of German Idealism.
from $300
Thus Spoke Nietzsche
On the most important issues: nihilism, amor fati, eternal recurrence, the death of God
from $300
Heidegger
The question of being, ecstatic temporality, Dasein, the Ereignis, and technology
from $300
Early Greek Thinkers
In this seminar course we focus on four of the most pivotal thinkers of the time: Anaximander, Empedocles, Heraclitus, and Parmenides.
Coming soon
Idleness with Dignity
In this course you will learn from some of the most important thinkers how they envisioned divine leisure to be attainable also for us mortals.
from $300
Nishitani Keiji
In this masterclass, we will consider the most important thoughts and ideas of the Japanese philosopher Nishitani Keiji.
from $300
Hegel Masterclass
This fall of 2021 get ready for the beginning of all beginnings: Hegel's Philosophy in all its glory will be taught in our course on "The Science of Hegel: Truth, History and Freedom"
Coming soon
Student Reviews
“I want to get across what the impact of studying these great thinkers via your courses has been. It's beyond instrumentalism and certainly beyond self-help. It's more a change in mental outlook which then changes the way one lives. For example, my outlook towards work has changed a lot. I am now much more about seeing work as right livelihood and trying to reserve my energy for the enjoyable creative projects I'm engaged with.” – James Simpkin
“Excited for the Nietzsche course! Your courses so far have really been a blessing. I've been reading and writing more in my idle time. Starting to get in a groove! I’ve really enjoyed your recent Plato walkthrough and have caught up with the readings. Reading Plato helped me with my essay. It’s been crazy how useful the Plato studies have been for me recently.”
– Drew Lock
“I've found my lifetime's writing project because of you all! The Guild has been good to me.” – Seth Horras
“It was an inspiring course. It was like different views of the original concept are woven together, as Terry Eagleton put in one of his books about a good life, it should be a jazz band playing a common melody with individual musicians expressing their individuality through solos. It was an evocative experience.”
– Baris Aris
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 Johannes Niederhauser Ph.D 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. – Jack Krasuski, MD.
While my year of coursework with Johannes has been grounded in philosophy, our seminar discussions regularly draw the material into art, economics and more. His recorded lectures are a great companion to the primary sources, but the live seminars take their own form relative to how students engage with the ideas. I came to Johannes with only a modest amount of self-study and am grateful for his guidance in learning how to read philosophy and authentically respond to it in a cohort of interesting, thoughtful peers. — Taylor Steinberg
I have been with Halkyon Academy since its very inception. Learning Philosophy for me means to get back to the original question of what it means to be human and to the necessity of thinking. It is not about the answer but really about the question, the right question. I cannot think of better guides and teachers than the Meisters at Halkyon, guiding me on walks in the dense and historic forest of philosophy. Johannes and Filip have, in their own idiosyncratic styles, helped me to ask appropriate questions, picking up the subtleties of the great texts, and learning to understand. Beyond the guidance, the conversations in the seminars are inspiring. After two years of taking courses, I still see it as the beginning, maybe one is always in the beginning." — Baris A.
The Halkyon Academy provides philosophy courses online for self and group study. Choose to study philosophy with Halkyon and follow our leitmotif of the school, which comes from the German philosopher Friedrich Schelling:
"All rules for study are summed up in this one: Learn only in order to create!"
We worry not at all about meaningless credentials or pieces of paper. Instead, our focus is on the true formation and education of human beings - may we flourish and fully become who we are. To study philosophy online provides the advantage that you can enrol and follow along on your own time. Our philosophy courses also provide you with live group seminars so you can connect with like-minded peers.
Our seminars are spaces of "otium cum dignitate" - "idleness with dignity" free from instrumental rationality and the demands of the market.
You can enrol in our online philosophy courses via this website:
