Alexander Görlach and philosopher Markus Gabriel discuss the foundations of a liberal anthropology: Can people have freedom, and if so, how much? Does technology help or does it impose invisible shackles on humankind? Ultimately, the “elephant in the room” is the question of whether liberal democracy has a future.

Markus Gabriel is a German philosopher and author at the University of Bonn. He holds the chair in epistemology, modern, and contemporary philosophy at the University of Bonn and also serves as the Director of its International Centre for Philosophy. He works mainly in epistemology and metaphysics (ontology) drawing his inspirations from the history of philosophy (in particular, 19th century Post-Kantian philosophy, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein). He has a particular interest in problems of skepticism and their history. His recent books are Transcendental Ontology: Essays in German Idealism and Die Erkenntnis der Welt. Eine Einführung in die Erkenntnistheorie (Knowledge of the World. An Introduction to Epistemology).

Alexander Görlach is an adjunct professor to NYU Gallatin School where he teaches democratic theory. Prior to that he had various positions as visiting scholar and as fellow at Harvard University in the United States, and Cambridge University and Oxford University in the United Kingdom. He is a senior fellow to the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York and a senior advisor to the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles. Alexander holds a ThD in comparative religion and a PhD in linguistics. His academic interests include democratic theory, politics and religion, and theories of secularism, pluralism and cosmopolitanism. In the academic year 2017-18 he was a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University and City University Hongkong. Since then he focuses on the rise of China and what it means for the democracies in East Asia. Alexander Görlach is an honorary professor of ethics and theology at Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany. Alexander Görlach is the founder of the debate-magazine The European, that he also ran as its editor in chief from 2009 to 2015. Today he serves as an op-ed contributor to the New York Times, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and the South China Morning Post. He is a columnist to the business magazine Wirtschaftswoche, Deutsche Welle and Focus Online. He is a frequent commentator on German News Channel WELT TV.

Date and Time: Monday, September 11, 2023 – 6:30-8:00 PM

Location: 1014 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY 10028

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