TRUTH, TRUST, AND DEMOCRACY | Lecture Series
Organizers: Christoph Jäger und Michaela Quast-Neulinger
In recent years populism, propaganda, manipulation, and authoritarian thinking have started to jeopardize liberal democracy and the open societies. Rational, enlightened thinking appears to be in decline. This lecture series analyzes these developments and explores explanations and strategies for addressing them. Leading scholars from various disciplines in philosophy and other fields in the humanities and social sciences, will offer up-to-date discussion and analysis. The series will feature several lectures each semester, often accompanied by workshops on specific topics.
Upcoming Talks
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26. 2. 2026 | Aquinas Lecture 2026: Christian List (MCMP | LMU München)The Will of the People Revisited
16.00 - 19.00 | Hörsaal I | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
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6. 5. 2026 | Kevin Elliott (Michigan State University)Threading the Needle: Resisting Misinformation without Fostering Epistemic Injustice
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum I (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 1
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26. 5. 2026 | Michael Hannon (University of Nottingham)Insincere Discourse in Politics
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum I
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17. 6. 2026 | Katharina Felka (WWU Münster)TBA
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3, 1. Stock
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24. 6. 2026 | Marie-Luisa Frick (Universität Innsbruck)Tracing the rift running through liberal democracy
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3, 1. Stock
Past talks in 2026
14. 1. 2026 | Rainer Hegselmann (Universität Bayreuth)
Modelling Public Discourse: A Computational Approach to Polarisation, Radicalisation and Truth-Seeking Under Disinformation
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
Past talks in 2025
26. 11. 2025 | Fabio Wolkenstein (Universität Wien)
„Postliberale" Selbsttransformation
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
19. 11. 2025 | Saida Mirsadri (University of Bonn)
When Neutrality Hides a History: Epistemic Roots of Public Reason and the Role of Comparative Theology
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
12. 11. 2025 | Anjan Chakravartty (University of Miami)
Science Education and Epistemic Autonomy in an Open Society
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
29. 10. 2025 | Michele Palmira (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
Erotetic Deliberation
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
22. 10. 2025 | Georg Essen (HU Berlin)
Wahrheit und Freiheit: Eine politisch-theologische Relecture zu einem klassischen Thema der Wahrheitstheorie
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
25. 6. 2025 | Christoph Jäger (Universität Innsbruck)
Falsche Autoritäten
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
28. 5. 2025 | Monika Kirner-Ludwig (Universität Innsbruck)
Linguistic-pragmatic deliberations on how the Cooperative Principle is levered out (or not…) in acts of (fake-)quoting
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3
30. 4. 2025 | Stefan Kosak (HfPh München)
Michael Polanyi's argument for the trustworthiness of science
16.45 - 18.15 | Seminarraum VI (Theologie) | Karl-Rahner-Platz 3