‘Beyond love and power: The Philosophy of the Ring cycle’ - a lecture presented by Michael Steinberg.

Wagner’s theoretical writings are heavy going, but if you look past his prose style you find an interesting and original response to early German idealism and Romanticism, a coherent philosophy which shapes the dramatic action of the Ring cycle and the inner and outer struggles of its characters. Drawing on his forthcoming book The Philosopher's Ring—Wagner as Thinker and Dramatist, Michael Steinberg will offer fresh perspectives on this inexhaustible work and its unique—and still relevant—fusion of the personal and the political. 

Michael Steinberg has published and presented on social theory, ideology, religion, the history of ideas, and classical German philosophy, especially that of Johann Gottlieb Fichte. His most recent book is Enlightenment Interrupted: The Lost Moment of German Idealism and the Reactionary Present, and his occasional essays on broader topics appear in the on-line Philosophical Salon.