Rethinking courage in the modern age requires breaking down its purpose as a heroic overcoming of
fear in the face of death. The question is no longer: "What is a person prepared to die for?" It is: "What desire does he
or she refuse to renounce?" What guides these divergent reflections on Adorno, Benjamin, Hegel, Hölderlin, Kleist and Lacan
is the link between courage and the willingness to take risks. It is no longer the confrontation with death that defines this
courage, but the negation of its omnipotence in favour of an unpredictability made possible by the relationship to truth.
Mut ohne Heldentum is the 255th volume in the series
Fröhliche
Wissenschaft.
Antonia Birnbaum, Department of Philosophy, University of Applied Arts
Vienna, and University of Paris 8
BOOK PRESENTATION
Mut ohne Heldentum will be
presented to the public on June, 17, 2025, at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
Talk
Antonia Birnbaum, author, Head of the Department of Philosophy, University of Applied Arts Vienna, and University of Paris
8
with
Helmut Draxler, art historian, former Head of the Department of Art Theory, University of Applied Arts Vienna
and
Alexander García-Düttmann, Professor of Philosophical Aesthetics, Philosophy of Art, Cultural Theory, and Art Theory
at the Berlin University of the Arts
Moderation
Philipp Nolz, Department of Philosophy, University
of Applied Arts Vienna
