Die Neoreaktion – Ideologie der „dunklen Aufklärung“

In the organizer's words:

Lecture and discussion with Dr. Dr. Sebastian Schnelle
Neoreaction (also known as "dark enlightenment") has gained increasing attention in recent years and established itself as a subversive intellectual current in the digital age. This movement, which radically opposes the principles of liberal democracy and propagates technocratic and authoritarian models of government, has developed a remarkable ability to influence the media landscape. One of its pioneers is Curtis Yarvin. He argues that the US needs a monarchy and should be run by a CEO or an American Caesar, like a corporation. Peter Thiel, tech investor, PayPal founder and billionaire, called Yarvin an "interesting thinker" and wrote in an essay in 2009 that he did not believe that "freedom and democracy are compatible".
The lecture examines the ideological basis of this movement. It will also look at how neo-reactionary ideas are increasingly seeping into the mainstream and what role social media plays in this. Particular attention will be paid to the connection between Curtis Yarvin, his patron Peter Thiel and Thiel's friend and owner of X / Twitter Elon Musk.

Dr. Dr. Sebastian Schnelle received his doctorate in physics from the University of Queensland, Brisbane in 2011 and in philosophy from the University of Halle in 2013 on the topic of "Violence justification strategies of Islamic fundamentalists". His philosophical focus is on ethics, political philosophy and philosophy of religion. For over 15 years, he has been observing the pre-Enlightenment responses to modernity as well as the recent rise of extremist forces of all kinds. He runs the podcast "Vorpolitisch".

Moderation: Eva Creutz
Moderation LiveChat and online discussion: Katrin Wiesemann
Livestream: Ricarda Hinz
Sound: Roland Kuprat

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Further links on the topic:
If you want to take a closer look at the topic, you will find highly recommended articles here that present all the protagonists, their world views and connections between them in detail.

The dark enlightenment - Trump, Vance and their radical shadows
Donald Trump and his government are unsettling the entire world. Is the US government pursuing a strategy or is it really acting as erratically and contradictorily as it repeatedly appears? The radio feature looks at trends that could explain some of the decisions made by Trump and co. and that foreshadow bad things for the future. It is about ideas that for years were too radical to get through in Washington, but that has changed. Heavily wealthy tech investors like Peter Thiel, neoreactionary fascist masterminds like Curtis Yarvin and fundamental Christians are closer to power than ever before. They have ties to Vice President JD Vance, and for all their differences, they share a common goal.
A feature by Ralph Glander. Production: BR 2025
www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/urn:ard:publication:de33ecff85b8cce4/

The Peter Thiel Story
Peter Thiel is the mastermind behind the cultural shift to the right in the USA and one of Donald Trump's most important supporters. He got rich with Paypal and Facebook. This is the story of the mysterious tech billionaire.
www.deutschlandfunk.de/die-peter-thiel-story-100.html

Tech Bro Topia - The end of democracy?
Summer 2025: The USA takes a turn towards authoritarianism. In the middle of it all are the tech bros from Silicon Valley. They want to abolish the state and colonize space. But how do they come up with such ideas?
www.deutschlandfunk.de/tech-bro-topia-f1-mit-der-roten-pille-zur-macht-100.html

Watching you - The world of Palantir and Alex Karp
For the first time, a documentary looks at US billionaire Alex Karp and his mysterious and secretive company Palantir. Alongside Elon Musk, his co-founder Peter Thiel and Sam Altman, the CEO of Palantir is considered one of the most important digital leaders. Like them, Alex Karp is benefiting from Donald Trump's election as President of the USA. However, he is still relatively unknown in this country - even though German police authorities also work with Palantir's Gotham software: The successful yet controversial data analysis program specializes in bundling and visualizing large amounts of data with the aim of gathering information and conducting surveillance. "Gotham" can use digital data analysis to create profiles of individual people worldwide. The software supports intelligence services, the military and police authorities in the fight against terrorism.
www.ardmediathek.de/film/watching-you-die-welt-von-palantir-und-alex-karp/NzBiODA4OWItZGZmZS00NGY0LWIxZDUtNWU0NDYxMTUzOWVm

AI and fascism
Fascist forces in the USA want to use AI and data analysis to abolish the rule of law and democracy, says philosopher Rainer Mühlhoff. He talks to Jürgen Wiebicke about how this works and what role we all play in it.
www1.wdr.de/mediathek/audio/wdr5/wdr5-das-philosophische-radio/audio-rainer-muehlhoff-ki-und-faschismus-100.html

France's right wants the majority
In France, right-wing and national parties are organizing themselves into an alliance. On the one hand, there is the largest opposition party, Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National. But Catholic and libertarian circles as well as the conservative Republicans with their new strongman, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, are also hoping for a revival. They want to run as a joint alliance in the upcoming presidential elections in 2027. The goal: power in France. The previously competing parties are supported by billionaire entrepreneurs and conservative influencers.
www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/urn:ard:section:60cd0cb3bb3265b9/

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Humanist Salon: Since 2013, the DA! has regularly organized the Humanist Salon on the first Wednesday of the month. This is where urban society discusses philosophical, scientific, religious-critical and ethical issues. 50 to 100 visitors regularly gather in the Salon des Amateurs (bar in the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf) and online, as the salons have generally been broadcast live online since 2022. Questions submitted online by the audience are also integrated into the discussion following the lecture.

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