Empathy, Sympathy and Antipathy in Poetry and Politics: Johann Gottfried Herder and his Legacy

VIII International Symposium on Baltic Literary Culture "Empathy, Sympathy and Antipathy in Poetry and Politics: Johann Gottfried Herder and his Legacy" takes place from 24 -26 September. See the programme.

You are welcome to be part of an international symposium on the aesthetic, moral and political thought of Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) held at the university of Tartu. The symposium will focus on Herder’s notions of sympathy [Mitgefühl] and empathy [Einfühlung], exploring the role and expressions of these capacities in poetry and politics, and more broadly, in the development of language and culture on the one hand, and in human social and political interaction on the other. Herders notions of Europe and international justice will be discussed in depth, while several papers will be looking at his relationship to and experiences in Livland and the city of Riga. Aspects of Herder’s multifarious legacy will also be discussed. The keynote lecture will be held by Prof. Wolfgand Pross (University of Bern). For further details please see the program attached.

The symposium is jointly organised by the Institute of Cultural Research and Fine Arts, the Institute of Government and Politics and the Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics of the University of Tartu, Under and Tuglas Literature Centre of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, and Estonian Goethe Society.

Everyone interested is welcome to attend. Please register your attendance with Kadi Kähär-Peterson: (kadi.kahar-peterson@ut.ee).

The languages of the symposium will be German and English.

Further information: Dr Liina Lukas (liina.lukas@ut.ee) or Dr Eva Piirimäe (eva.piirimae@ut.ee)