Discussion evening “Tradition and Normativity”
19 April 2022 | 6.15 p.m. | Lecture room JO 1, Johannisstraße 4, and via Zoom (by prior registration)
Traditions are important sources of orientation for the groups that carry them. For example, conventions are passed on that can help people cope with everyday life. However, traditions also convey moral – and thus ethically contested – beliefs and practices, with criticism of tradition therefore being able to become a normative demand itself. But how does the normative claim that can be ascribed to the traditional relate to the normative demand that the traditional always be criticized?
The panel will feature:
- Prof. Dr. Franziska Dübgen, philosopher
- Prof. Dr. Thomas Gutmann, legal scholar
- Prof. Dr. Arnulf von Scheliha, Protestant theologian
- Chair: Dr. Manon Westphal, political scientist
Discussion evening “Tradition and Competition”
24 May 2022 | 6.15 p.m. | Lecture Hall JO 1, Johannisstraße 4, and via Zoom (by prior registration)
The question of what is handed down to whom and in what way is riven by competition. Groups or individuals maintain different beliefs or practices, and may try to prevent other groups from transmitting these in order to gain an advantage of transmission for themselves. There is thus competition for the scarce commodity of what can be handed down. Conversely, traditions can be reinterpreted or even reinvented, so that what was once marginalized or censored appears in a new light. The discussion evening will examine examples of such competitive relationships from antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the modern period.
The panel will feature:
- Prof. Dr. Wolfram Drews, historian
- Prof. Dr. Peter Funke, historian
- Prof. Dr. Hubert Wolf, church historian
- Chair: Prof. Dr. Ricarda Vulpius, historian
Discussion evening “Tradition and Rationality”
28 June 2022 | 6.15 p.m. | Lecture Hall S 10, Schlossplatz 2, and via Zoom (by prior registration)
Within modernization theories, traditional, supposedly unreflective forms of behaviour have occasionally been contrasted with reflective and considered forms of behaviour. Although criticism has often been levelled at this schematization, the juxtaposition of tradition and rationality leaves its mark. The discussion investigates how the two variables could be related to each other sociologically and philosophically, but also by means of selected examples from history.
The panel will feature:
- Prof. Dr. Silke Mende, historian
- Prof. Dr. Michael Quante, philosopher
- Prof. Dr. Joachim Renn, sociologist
- Chair: Jürgen Kaube, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
