The World to Come, The World to Mourn

We fear that the world will come to an end. Yet this fear is not merely limited to its physical destruction; more deeply, it reflects a crisis of shared meaning, stability, and historical orientation. What we hold in common begins to dissolve. When that happens, reflection easily gives way to fear, anxiety, and despair. These emotions begin to shape our perceptions and, eventually, create our reality. The fear of the end of the world does not remain abstract but rather takes on historical form. The devastation of both World Wars gave rise to nuclear unease, which later shifted into visions of ecological collapse and now into anxieties over planetary destabilisation. The future feels increasingly insecure and more fragile. As Hamlet laments, “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world!” We mourn not only a world that is lost but also worlds that have never existed and may never come to be. Considering this bleak outlook, the old question resurfaces with renewed force: What is to be done?

About the lecture series

Global ecological and political challenges define the present day; we are witnessing rapid developments in artificial intelligence and a revival of space exploration. Is there a connection between these phenomena? And what do they have to do with the resurgence of authoritarian forms of government? The lectures in this series explore the changing image that humanity constructs of itself and the world.