What might eroticism have to do with the complex philosophy of Hegel? The French writer and philosopher Georges Bataille (1897-1962) gained special access to Hegel’s conceptual framework. In this RE:THINK TALK, Laurens ten Kate demonstrates how.

Marli Huijer, the Dutch ‘National Thinker’, elucidates the idea that philosophy should make life difficult. She presents us with the wealth of values and ideas which initially appear irreconcilable.

On 30 November 2015, the Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernissi died. As an emancipated feminist and activist, she navigated effortlessly between East and West – always arriving at deep insights into the complex relationship between people, cultures and religions. The books Beyond the Veil and Islam and Democracy garnered her worldwide fame and both remain powerful reference works to this day.

The French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy has pronounced ideas on art and culture. This talk focuses on the status of art as such, on art as representation, concrete phenomena in works of art and how the spectator views them. He engages in conversation with Ignaas Devisch, professor in Ethics, Philosophy and Medical Philosophy at Ghent University.

Technological developments lead to a potential new era, that of Technological Singularity. Sandy Williams creates a performance about the tension between our raw, flawed and incomplete human nature and the immaculate potential of a digitised future.

Chistophe Meierhans’ theatre work raises questions about citizenship and responsibility. During his RE:THINK TALK at 7 PM, Mathijs van de Sande (PhD philosophy student at KU Leuven) offers possible answers in an exposition on philosophy, art and activism.

Once again, the Brussels Studies Institute will be mobilising a crack team of researchers and thinkers to share their knowledge of Brussels with you. In between the presentations and discussions, you’ll be treated to short performances by Brussels-based artists.

Jan Decorte describes the story of Prometheus from the perspective of forgetting, a gift he gave to man. The philosopher Stéphane Symons (KUL) reflects on forgetting and man’s relationship with past and future.

The philosopher Petra Brabandt (St. Lucas Antwerp) leads us through the ideas of philosophers who have written about theatre, from Aristotle to Rancière. She also talks about philosophers, such as Martha Nussbaum and Slavoj Žižek, who explain their ideas in a performative way.

Julian Hetzel explores a radical alternative use of money earmarked for culture. Starting point is the € 2.000 gift he received to develop a project. He donates that entire budget to a starving child in Africa. By transferring 1 euro each day, he effectively turns the gift into a ‘2000-day intercontinental performance’.