Fear of knowledge
06/09/2026Where does the growing mistrust between science and society come from? Michel Friedman and Harald Lesch will explore this and other questions on Tuesday, 16 June at the Schelling Forum.
A functioning democracy depends on informed citizens. Current events should be categorised in a wider context and public debates should be underpinned by scientific findings. At the same time, trust in science is dwindling in parts of the population. This may also be due to the fact that science often pursues questions without paying attention to their immediate usefulness for society; and these questions are answered in specialised language that is difficult for the public to understand. A dilemma for an informed society.
What explains the mistrust between science and society? Is there even a fear of knowledge, and why? How can science and society be better interlinked in order to do justice to the major problems of our time? And is there still hope for an informed society? And science is being attacked, ridiculed and questioned as it has not been for a long time.
Michel Friedman and Harald Lesch will be discussing these questions - with the audience too!
Time and place
When? Tuesday, 16 June 2026, 7:00 pm
Where? Garden pavilion of the Juliusspital, Klinikstraße 1
About the people
Michel Friedman is a Franco-German lawyer, philosopher, publicist, author and presenter. He is an honorary professor at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and was Managing Director of the Centre for Applied European Studies (CAES).
Since October 2022, Michel Friedman has been a member of the Board of Trustees "Sites of German Democratic History" and the Jewish Museum Berlin. He is a recipient of the French order "Officer of the Legion of Honour" ("Officier de la Légion d'honneur"), the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and editor of the magazine "Aufbau - Das jüdische Monatsmagazin".
Harald Lesch is Professor of Astrophysics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and lecturer in natural philosophy at the Munich School of Philosophy. In programmes such as Leschs Kosmos, Frag den Lesch, Faszination Universum and Terra X , he communicates scientific facts to a broad public. Lesch has published a large number of specialised and non-fiction books and has received various awards such as the Federal Cross of Merit and the Communicator Prize.
Registration
Participation is free of charge. Please register for the event via the registration portal . If you have any questions, please contact schelling-forum@badw.de.
