Revenge – About a Blind Spot in Modernity

Modernity claims to have overcome revenge and replaced it with the rule of law. Since the Enlightenment, revenge has been regarded as the dark other of modernity in general.
But with the delegitimization of revenge, the – partly open, partly unacknowledged – desire for retribution in modern societies by no means disappeared. In revenge, not only the dark side of justice appears, but also those repressed energies and affects for which there no longer seems to be a legitimate place in the modern present.

Dr. Fabian Bernhardt studied philosophy, ethnology, and general and comparative literature. As a research associate, he is currently conducting research at the Institute of Philosophy at Freie Universität Berlin in the Collaborative Research Center Affective Societies.

Moderation: Marcus Imbsweiler