Unrestrained Freedom? A Debate on the Role of Morality in the Open Society

About this Event

The open society, like democracy itself, thrives on individual freedom as well as respect for the ways of life of others. At the same time, there is an ongoing public debate about conflicting moral beliefs and their political consequences. Many people ask themselves: What is good, what is bad? What role should the state play in moral questions? This touches on many issues — such as climate change, social inequality, or “wokeness.” Yet from the conservative side, too, there are laments about the “decline of values” and the atomization of the individual.