Wednesday, 14 March 2012
4.30 to 5.30 pm

Photos of the lecture

Broadcast dates

Prof. Dr Myriam Gerhard
Institute of Philosophy
Moderation: NDR 1 Niedersachsen

Camera child: Thaisa Sophie, 11 years old
Gong child: Johannes, 9 years old

Pippi Longstocking lives by the motto: "I make the world the way I like it". Which of you wouldn't like that? Just live the way you like it. Shape the world the way you want it to be. Pippi's life sounds like unlimited freedom.
But the freedom to do whatever you want, the freedom to tell your maths teacher that 2 x 3 = 4, all too often turns out to be an illusion, a dream, an unfulfilled wish in real life.
Many people have fought for their freedom. They have fought wars, started revolutions and made the world at least a little bit the way they like it.
So doesn't freedom have to be much more than a dream or an illusion? In this lecture, we want to "think up" together why you can't touch freedom and why you still need it to live. You will also find out what philosophers have to say about it.