Rationality: What it is, why it seems scarce, why it matters
Nov
07
06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Jump directly to
Register |now
Overview
Democracies around the globe are increasingly under threat. In many countries, populists are gaining ground, polarization is increasing, and voters often fail to vote. Public intellectuals are debating the prospects for post-democratic politics. At the same time, authoritarian regimes are seeing a resurgence. What is driving these trends? And what can be done to reverse them? This is the main topic of our series, which consists of three events, beginning with a lecture by Wolfgang Schäuble (in German), who provides a political-historical framework of the topic, followed by a talk by experimental psychologist Steven Pinker, who discusses the role of rationality for democratic societies. We will conclude with our annual Forum for Economic Dialogue, where experts from various fields will discuss the topic from both a political and an economic perspective.
Democracies around the globe are increasingly under threat. In many countries, populists are gaining ground, polarization is increasing, and voters often fail to vote. Public intellectuals are debating the prospects for post-democratic politics. At the same time, authoritarian regimes are seeing a resurgence. What is driving these trends? And what can be done to reverse them? This is the main topic of our series, which consists of three events, beginning with a lecture by Wolfgang Schäuble (in German), who provides a political-historical framework of the topic, followed by a talk by experimental psychologist Steven Pinker, who discusses the role of rationality for democratic societies. We will conclude with our annual Forum for Economic Dialogue, where experts from various fields will discuss the topic from both a political and an economic perspective.
Image: Alex Azabache via Unsplash
Program
| 18.00 |
Introduction Prof. Ernst Fehr (UBS Center) |
|
Keynote Prof. Steven Pinker (Harvard) |
|
| 19.15 |
End of event |
| 18.00 |
Introduction Prof. Ernst Fehr (UBS Center) |
|
Keynote Prof. Steven Pinker (Harvard) |
|
| 19.15 |
End of event |
Speaker
Steven Pinker is a Johnstone Family Professor at the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. He conducts research on language and cognition and writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and The Atlantic. He is the author of ten books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and most recently, Enlightenment Now - The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Humanist of the Year, a recipient of nine honorary doctorates, and one of Foreign Policy’s “World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals” and Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today”.
Steven Pinker is a Johnstone Family Professor at the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. He conducts research on language and cognition and writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and The Atlantic. He is the author of ten books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and most recently, Enlightenment Now - The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Humanist of the Year, a recipient of nine honorary doctorates, and one of Foreign Policy’s “World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals” and Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today”.
Venue
University of Zurich
Aula, Rämistrasse 71, 8006 Zurich
(Google Maps)