Der Vortrag wird in livestream übertragen.

Programm* 19.00 Uhr: Einlass

19.15 Uhr: Grußworte

• Dr. Maria-Christina Chatziioannou, Direktorin des Instituts für Historische Forschungen/Nationales Forschungszentrum

• Prof. Dr. Miltos Pechlivanos, Direktor des CeMoG/Freie Universität Berlin
  
  

19:30 Uhr: Einleitung

• Dr. Ourania Polycandrioti, Forschungsdirektorin des Instituts für Historische Forschungen/Nationales Forschungszentrum
  
  

19:40 Uhr: 25. K. Th. Dimaras-Vortrag

• Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Décultot, Lehrstuhl für Neuzeitliche Schriftkultur und europäischen Wissenstransfer / Geschäftsführende Direktorin des Interdisziplinären Zentrum für die Erforschung der Europäischen Aufklärung (IZEA) der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle–Wittenberg
  
  Do the People Benefit from Being Deceived? A Debate on the Politics of the Enlightenment

In 1777, the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences published its prize question for the year 1780: “Is it useful to deceive the people, either by inducing them into new errors, or by maintaining them into previous ones?” The question, formulated in French, attracted the largest number of entries ever received for a Prussian Academy contest in the 18th century. It was bound to attract attention, as it brought together in a single sentence two terms which seemed to have nothing in common: utility and deceit. How could deception be useful, especially if, as the question suggests, utility is considered from the point of view of the deceived party? Moreover, the Academy's archives show that the topic was forcibly imposed on the Academy by Frederick II, King of Prussia since 1740. In other words and paradoxically enough, political power here imposed on academia to examine a theoretical issue which could undermine its very hold on power. In all these respects, the Royal Prussian Academy contest of 1780 is a breakthrough in the history of the Aufklärung in Germany and of the Enlightenment in Europe. The purpose of this annual lecture dedicated to K. Th. Dimaras is to analyse the genesis and the course of this contest, seen by some as a key moment in the transition from Aufklärung to Spätaufklärung.

*Alle Zeitangaben beziehen sich auf die griechische Ortszeit (Ostoeuropäische Zeit, UTC+2)