On 26 July 2026, Johannes Müller-Salo will give his guest lecture “Braucht es eine Zugangsbefähigung für kulturelle Güter?” (“Do we need proficiency of access for cultural goods?”) The lecture will take place from 4.15 pm to 6.30 pm in the Philosophikum (Domplatz 23, 48143 Münster), room 201.

This lecture explores the question of how the demand for socially guaranteed access to cultural goods can be justified in terms of justice theory. In an initial, theoretical section, it draws on arguments from the capabilities approach. From this theoretical perspective, justice prevails where all members of a society are guaranteed the basic capabilities necessary for a fulfilling life. ‘A fulfilling life’ is understood here, following Martha Nussbaum, as a multidimensional concept to be explored narratively. Insofar as cultural goods are crucial to the realisation of central dimensions of a fulfilling life, ensuring public access to them is a requirement of justice. In the second part, the fundamental argument is applied to the digital sphere. Müller-Salo’s primary aim here is to highlight the potential of the capabilities approach, which enables a comprehensive assessment of digitalisation strategies both from the perspective of the individual and with regard to cultural institutions. For the individual, the question is how the development and maintenance of digital skills can and must be socially promoted in order to safeguard the individual prerequisites for access to digital cultural assets. At the institutional level, it is necessary to examine how the mere digital availability of cultural assets differs in quality from the genuinely empowering access that institutions are required to ensure. To this end, a recent example – the digital publication of the NSDAP membership register – is examined in more detail.

Dr. Johannes Müller-Salo is deputy professor in philosophy at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Münster and conducts research into issues of political philosophy, normative and applied ethics, and philosophical aesthetics. His current research interests include everyday life, the city, digitalisation and climate. He submitted his habilitation thesis on the subject Vita urbana. Vom gelingenden Alltag in der Stadt (Vita urbana. On Successful Everyday Life in the City) to Leibniz University Hannover in 2026.