The IWM organizes a commemoration ceremony for Krzysztof Michalski where US-Philosopher Michael Sandel, member of the Institute’s Academic Advisory Board and dear friend of Krzysztof Michalski, will give a lecture in his memory. His speech will be dedicated to the topic of Solidarity.

Michael Sandel is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard University. He has been described as “the most relevant living philosopher,” a “rock-star moralist,” and “the most famous teacher of philosophy in the world.”

His writings have been translated into 21 languages. His legendary course “Justice,” is the first Harvard course to be made freely available online and on television. It has been viewed by millions of people around the world, including in China, where Sandel was named the “most influential foreign figure of the year.” (China Newsweek) Sandel’s new book, What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, takes on one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, what should be the role of money and markets in our society? Critics have called it “a brilliant, indispensable book on the relationship between morality and economics,” and “one of the most important exercises in public philosophy in many years.” Like his previous book, Justice, an international best seller, What Money Can’t Buy has generated interest around the world, including in London, where 2,000 people packed St. Paul’s Cathedral for his recent book tour, and in Seoul, Korea, where 14,000 people filled an outdoor stadium to hear him speak. In the U.S., Sandel has served on the President’s Council on Bioethics, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a long-time friend of the IWM and a member of its Academic Advisory Board.

 Sandel will also take part in the panel discussion “Inequality and Solidarity” at the Vienna Burgtheater on April 7.

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Polish Philosopher

 Founder and Rector of the IWM

"Somewhere out beyond all my concepts lies the unfamiliar, dark side of life. It is from there that the shadow of death falls on my knowledge … this is where despair and the longing that time entails originate.

 And yet this is not all: this dark zone, mine and not-mine, this ever-present excess of meaning among my concepts, which can never be translated into propositions, into an additional bit of knowledge, into a description of what is (beyond what we already know) - all this places my life beyond myself, beyond what I know about myself, and my world, and thus also beyond (my) sadness in departing this world, beyond the cares, beyond my worry about everything I am to leave behind."

(Krzysztof Michalski, The Flame of Eternity, 2012, p. 171)

We will miss you, KM!

 Your colleagues and friends

Nachruf von Dieter Simon, Präsident des IWM

Obituary by Claus Offe and Ira Katznelson, Members of the IWM Academic Advisory Board

In Memoriam Krzysztof Michalski – Obituaries, Articles, Comments…

On April 5, 2013, the IWM organizes a commemoration for Krzysztof Michalski in Vienna. US-Philosopher Michael Sandel, member of the IWM’s Academic Advisory Board and dear friend of Krzysztof Michalski, will give a lecture in his memory. Details will be announced in due time.  (Text: IWM)