The names of Greek philosophers are well known to this day and considered the epito-me of wisdom and knowledge: Parmenides, Heraclitus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. But does Greek thought still play a role in our social and personal every day lives today? On four Sundays, we immerse ourselves in sensing Greek thought and its importance in thought processes today.
KAIRÓS - Thought Path wit Stefan Brotbeck and Salvatore Lavecchia
Sunday, 15th October 2017, 11.00, Philosophicum Basel
«Kairós is the most Greek of all greek concepts of time», Michael Theunissen writes. And yet: Kairós is not the first concept we think of, when we think of greek concepts. It is rarely used, yet more up-to-date than ever. Kairós stands for the right moment, the decisive moment - for that, which the time has come. We can only live Kairós by perceiving and seizing it, individually, currently, here and now. Kairós is the I in the crisis, the mo-ment as fruitless helplessness, and the good as a flash of a gift.
POIESIS - Thought Path with Philippe Cabane
Sunday, 29th October 2017, 11.00, Philosophicum Basel
The planning and developing of cities or neighbourhoods is comparable to generic thought and action oriented towards the purpose of production, referred to in Greek as Poeisis. During our foray through historic neighbourhoods, concluding with a view of the Novartis campus, we will detect visible evidence of very different attitudes underlying their development and transformation.
POLIS - Thought Path with Andreas Brenner
Sunday, 12th November 2017, 11.00, Philosophicum Basel
Even without the Greeks we would be living in cities, but it is only thanks to the Greeks that we know that cities are not only places where many people live within their four walls, but that these many private spaces are also formed through their separation from public space. The inside and the outside determine one another. Discussions, differences and tensions characterise a city and its citizens. Our walk through the city does not lead through the most harmonious regions of Basel and confronts us with the present idea of polis, which originated in ancient Greece.
ARETÉ - Thought Path with Elisa Wiederkehr and Markus Fink
Sunday, 26th November 2017, 11.00, Heiliggeistkirche
Areté (virtue) plays a central role in the Greeks quest for a rightful, happy life. During our walk through the converted factory space Gundeldingerfeld we pursue the original meaning of the term, which translations only transmit inadequately. By encountering people who work there in various fields we will learn what the areté of an object, a pro-fession, and a community is like. Can it be created or learned? What value does it have to the people we will visit? And in the here and now: to what extent does ancient areté help us towards finding happiness?
