In addition to their own research projects, the fellows work on a joint project each year. Under a central, predetermined theme, they combine their disciplines to find answers to questions about the future.
Freedom is the guiding principle of Western modernity. But this modernity is once again at a decisive turning point. What consequences does this have for the concept of freedom itself? What consequences should it have?
Leading researchers from a wide range of disciplines are coming together at the newly founded St. Gallen Collegium at the University of St. Gallen to tackle this question and attempt to develop a viable new definition of freedom. In doing so, they are addressing one of the most important intellectual challenges of our time.
The present day, in the 2020s, is characterised less by an awareness of necessary change than by a sense of impending collapse. Former guiding narratives and norms have clearly lost their orienting power. This is true in political, economic, ecological and, not least, anthropological terms. This has a direct impact on the meaning and importance of the concept of freedom as the core of our cultural self-image. We must respond to this.
From a political perspective, this sense of decline is evident in the ongoing erosion of liberal democracies and the fact that the narrative of the foreseeable triumph of this model of governance has lost its credibility. Internal, institutional weakening goes hand in hand with the loss of a globally binding, normative claim. At present, this is leading to a dynamic of destabilisation that threatens the system, in the course of which even a once-prevailing, enlightened understanding of individual freedom as responsible autonomy is coming under renewed pressure to justify itself.
From a technological perspective, the current sense of disruption is primarily evident in the emergence of a new technology that, in a manner unique in human history, is capable of simulating all the rule-governed symbolic actions once exclusively attributed to humans to the point of indistinguishability – and in many areas even to surpass them functionally. In other words, with the leap forward represented by large language models, collectively referred to as AI (artificial intelligence), actors are entering the process of civilisation who have the potential to reorganise and potentially revolutionise the entire field of our cultural existence. If the sign of mature autonomy consisted in particular in the ability to act independently and symbolically in a rule-governed manner (speaking, calculating, creating), this disruption is likely to have a considerable impact on the modern understanding of self-determination, self-creation and, therefore, freedom.
From an economic and ecological perspective, the current sense of disruption is reflected in the admission of a comprehensive perplexity regarding solutions. There is currently no viable scenario for reconciling the globally dominant modes of economic activity and resource consumption with scientifically established ecological imperatives. This is particularly true with regard to human-induced changes in climatic conditions and the critical decline in biodiversity. This perplexity affects liberal democracies and autocracies alike. It is therefore difficult to see how, in the foreseeable future, it will be possible to democratically legitimise those measures which, according to the best scientific expertise, represent simple ecological necessities for the future dignified survival of 10 billion people on this planet. At the heart of this question lies the concept of freedom – in particular its aspects of individualised freedom of choice and therefore freedom of consumption.
What would a viable understanding of freedom look like that would respond to this new constellation without abandoning or significantly restricting the modern core of individualised maturity? This is the guiding question under which the first cohort of fellows of the St. Gallen Collegium will meet in autumn 2025. Hopefully with an open, even opening outcome.
Freedom is a term that has many interpretations. As part of our annual theme, Re-interpreting Freedom, we asked members of our advisory board, future fellows and friends of the Collegium to share their own views on freedom. Their answers offer different perspectives on one of the central questions of our time. Here you will find the first questionnaires with the answers from Günter Müller-Stewens, Antoinette Weibel, Roger de Weck, Prof. em. Wolfgang Schürer and Christine Abbt.
