Immanuel Kant: Free Will and Scientific Determinism
Our philosophy lecture this year, delivered by Professor Irmgard Scherer, addressed the question of free will versus scientific determinism, with special focus on Immanuel Kant's position in this age-old quandary. Many attendees asked for a transcript of Professor Scherer's lecture, so we are making it available here.
15th and 16th Century German Thought and Literature
Lecture by Irmgard Wagner given on Saturday, 22 July, 2006, at an all-day Seminar on Humanism and Renaissance in Germany, held by the Smithsonian Associates at the German Embassy. The 15th and 16th centuries saw the emergence of "modern" German literature, i.e. literature written in the New High German language. Works such as Der Ackermann und der Tod (Death and the Ploughman), the poetry and drama of Hans Sachs, and the Faustbuch (chapbook on Dr. Faustus) had a lasting impact on the development of German literature.
The Volksstück is a theater tradition particular to Vienna that dominated the Viennese stage in the 18th and 19th centuries. A prose comedy enriched with incidental music and songs, the Volksstück created the role of Hanswurst-Kasperl and set the stage for Mozart's opera, Die Zauberflöte. Ferdinand Raimund (1790-1836) and Johann Nestroy (1801-62) were the eminent authors of the 19th century varieties: Zauberstück (magic play) and Lokalstück (play about every-day life). The Viennese operetta, beginning with Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, may be considered the Volksstück's legitimate heir.