Justice or Revenge?

with Lorraine Daston, Berlin; Wendy Doniger, Chicago; Konstanty Gebert, Warsaw; Carey Harrison, New York; Stephen Holmes, New York; Daniel Kehlmann, Berlin; Glenn Most, Florence; Susan Neiman, Potsdam; David Shulman, Jerusalem

Aeschylus’ The Eumenides, the final play in the Oresteia trilogy, has been described as the foundation stone of Western metropolitan civilization. It confronts the question: what does a community do with violent, shattering crimes? Can cool and rational legality tame vengeful passions? Is revenge ever reasonable? What kinds of crimes force us to reconsider our legal systems? These and other questions will be explored by writers, historians, classicists, philosophers, and other members of the Einstein Forum’s board of advisors.

Online via Zoom
Please register here to join the conversation:
Thursday, July 1
Friday, July 2

Program

1.7.2021

19:00h Susan Neiman

Welcome

19:10h Daniel Kehlmann

Einsteinian Interlude

20:00h Carey Harrison

From the Shield of Achilles to the Hill of Mars

2.7.2021

14:00h Glenn Most

Just How Just is Aeschylus’ Justice?

15:00h Stephen Holmes

Justice, Identity, Revenge

16:00h Lorraine Daston

Unnatural Crimes and Artificial Justice

17:00h Wendy Doniger

Cutting the Red Cord of Vengeance
The Oresteia and the Mahabharata

18:15h Konstanty Gebert

Can Furies Retire? Do Furies Die?

19:15h Susan Neiman

Crime, Memory, and Justice

20:15h David Shulman

Alternatives to Revenge