The PHILOSOPHICUM 2022 was about touch, vulnerability and the question to what extent there is hold in touch or to what extent hold can just be lost.
A panel discussion with
The philosophers Anna König and Julia Meer discussed the topic with Elisabeth Lienhart, head of crisis management at the Diocese of Graz-Seckau, and Eva Hysa, who heads the Department for Children, Youth & Family Work at Caritas Styria. The panel discussion was moderated by Reinhold Esterbauer.
The content
The so-called "social distancing" has not only found its way into society through Corona, but the pandemic has made it a tangible and alienating reality for everyone from one day to the next. Likewise, it has made people newly aware of the phenomenon of touch. Touching and being touched create closeness, but can also hurt. Thus touch promotes the healing of painful injuries and protects against loneliness and lack of support. At the same time, however, it is also an indicator of the vulnerability of human existence, since the permanent not being touched and the unwanted distance to other people trigger pain and suffering.
The manifold dimensions of touch are a concern for philosophy and theology alike. Intercultural, body-phenomenological and art-scientific approaches can broaden the view and give new impulses for thought as well as clues for human interaction.
Organizer: Institute of Philosophy at the Faculty of Catholic Theology in cooperation with the KHG Graz.
Review
The successful discussion between science and practice showed once again how important the exchange between concrete experience and theory formation is.
This year's "PHILOSOPHICUM", organized by the Institute of Philosophy at the Faculty of Catholic Theology and the Catholic University Community Graz, was entitled "Halt. Through touch?". The fact that bodily closeness, especially in difficult situations, not only gives support but can also violate one's own integrity was examined from different perspectives and discussed in the keynote speeches against the background of lockdown and distance rules.
Panelists:inside:
Marie-Christin Hinteregger, clinical psychologist
Wolfgang Kröll, intensive care physician
Klaus Wegleitner, sociologist
Moderation: Hans-Walter Ruckenbauer
The Covid 19 pandemic has led to radical interventions in health care and social life. In the Philosophicum we reflect from an ethical perspective on the question of interpretive power in the crisis. The one-sided virological view of health will be put to the test, as will the justifiability of restrictions on fundamental freedoms or the influx and lack of solidarity in dealing with social challenges. Food for thought for responsible living with the virus directs biopolitical reflection to the impositions of the future.