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"The Legacy of the Enlightenment & the Paradox of Emancipation"

The Enlightenment has often been regarded as the glorious origin of democratic and scientific modernity. More recently, however, it has been accused of complicity with colonialism and racism. Today, we once again recognize that the legacy of the Enlightenment is a crucial issue for understanding both the present and the future of our societies. We are seeking not so much ready‑made solutions as the intellectual resources that help us to grasp the ambivalences of modernity. This lecture will focus on the paradox of emancipation, to pose and answer key questions from the Enlightenment era that are strikingly contemporary: How can the public be enlightened if it does not wish to be? What is the role of scholars and intellectuals in a media-driven world full of charlatans and fake news?Does the public truly want to be enlightened, or to be deceived? 

Antoine Lilti is the  Professor at the College de France and at the Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS).