Bernhard Schlink

Justice is one of the most important foundations for human coexistence. And everyone wants justice – always for themselves, sometimes for others, rarely for everyone. But what is justice and how can it be achieved? Bernhard Schlink offers neither an ideal concept nor a simple formula. His concern is more modest. He shows how we have to keep searching for fair solutions and how we can find them. That is work. The text is a guide to the work of justice.

Bernhard Schlink is a writer and lawyer who lives in Berlin and New York. His first book, Selbs Justiz, was published in 1987, and his novel Der Vorleser (1995), which has been translated into over 50 languages, won national and international awards and was made into a film by Stephen Daldry with Kate Winslet under the title The Reader, made him famous worldwide. Schlink’s works often deal with themes such as guilt, crime and German history, particularly the Holocaust. His most recent novel was Das späte Leben (2023).

Discussion: Prof. Dr. Carsten Dutt, Institute of Philosophy at TU Darmstadt, President of the Hans-Georg Gadamer Society.