Schelling-Forum: Discussion ‘Fear of Knowledge’ now online available
07/07/2026A star-studded line-up: Harald Lesch and Michel Friedman were guests at the Schelling-Forum in mid-June. The discussion is now available as a video and an audio recording.
A democracy can only function if it can rely on informed citizens. However, sections of society are increasingly distrustful of science. But how can this growing mistrust be explained? Is there even a fear of knowledge, and why? How can science and society be better integrated to tackle the major challenges we face? And is there still hope for an informed society?
Harald Lesch and Michel Friedman discussed these questions on 16 June 2026 at the Juliusspital. Anyone interested who was unable to attend the Schelling-Forum event has something to look forward to: the discussion ‘Fear of Knowledge’ is now also available online.
The video can be viewed on YouTube.
An audio recording of the event is available in the media library of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences.
About the speakers
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.
