This debate will be in English.
Tickets: free and unticketed. For more information: phone: +351 21 343 0205 | email: reservas@zedosbois.org | www.zedosbois.org

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Arguably, the end of the Second World War marked the beginning of the end for big ideas. The defeat of Nazism was soon followed by the discrediting of Stalinism, and later isms, from poststructuralism to postmodernism, failed to provide a useful understanding of our time. Some might even wonder if truly transformative ideas will ever hold sway again, or at least whether such ideas can emerge from art and the humanities.

Sceptics argue that artists have lost their way in a technology-driven modern world: literature no longer tells us meaningful stories, the traditional visual arts simply recycle old masters, while digital art is yet to find its place. New literary and art manifestos do not prevail in the long term; art has capitulated to money and politics. Science, by contrast, has proved itself has the great enabler. The Higgs boson explains the origin of the universe, and has even been named ‘the God particle’. Neuroscientists may have discovered the meaning of all things, love and life included. Increasingly it is to science, not art or the humanities, that we look for meaning and understanding.

Could it be a matter of art thinking small and science thinking big? Does literature still reflect the shattered experience of modern man? Are originality and tradition still worthy of pursuit? Or is it that the anxiety of influence overwhelms artists? Conversely, is science lacking in self-criticism? Has it become arrogant in its claims and ambitions? Might there yet be big ideas to emerge from beyond the lab?