Lea Ypi: Benjamin Lecture 1 - What Can I Know?

In the framework of the Benjamin Lectures - and the associated Benjamin Chair at the Centre for Social Critique in Berlin - a distinguished philosopher is invited each year, to present the broader public with current debates on key social and political issues. In 2024, Lea Ypi served as Benjamin Chair. The lectures took place on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of June 2024 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin.
June 19th - What Can I Know?
In this first Benjamin lecture, Lea Ypi defines some key terms and explores the Enlightenment conception of reason, with particular reference to the question of method and the effort to steer a path between dogmatism and scepticism. She suggests that this conception of reason has historically contributed to a critique of both vertical oppression from traditional authorities (the church, the monarchy, the empire) and horizontal oppression of commercial society and capitalist practices. She explores some standard materialist critiques to this view, and argues that they target a reductive, individualist, conception of the enlightenment which an adequate reinterpretation can avoid.
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In this video:
00:00 Intro Trailer
00:15 Welcome by Rahel Jaeggi
02:58 Welcome by Julia von Blumenthal, President of the HU Berlin
09:10 Introduction to Lea Ypi by Rahel Jaeggi
18:14 First Benjamin Lecture by Lea Ypi
1:14:35 Q&A