Byung-Chul Han philosophises on the Spirit of Hope with Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata

As a philosopher and writer, Byung-Chul Han has in recent years published The Burnout Society (2015) and Psychopolitics (2015). Uncompromisingly and with a sharp analytical gaze, he dissects our neoliberal society, ‘an achievement-oriented society’. According to Han, we are no longer capable of resignation and of imbuing life with meaning. Market thinking and our competitive urge make us unfree beings; we lie exhausted in bed because we constantly want to be the best version of ourselves. With his new book Der Geist der Hoffnung (‘The Spirit of Hope’) Han resolutely chooses the path of hope. Today we need hope more than ever. We go from one crisis to another, from one catastrophe to the next. As a consequence, life becomes paralysed and we start fearing for the future. Accompanied by a pianist, during this musical lecture Han rekindles hope as the beginning of everything. Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata is performed live as the sonata of hope. As a powerful step, a new elan.