Monday Oct 05, 2026
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
About the Book.
The eminent moral philosopher Susan Neiman shows how naming and confronting evil is essential for preserving democracy in an age of demagogues.
“Possibly the best book title of 2026,” Literary Hub
“Every sentence is worth reading in this compelling book. For readers who are
horrified and want to understand how we got here, this book is an absolute must.” –
starred Review, Library Journal
Neiman is one of our most important philosophers, and one of the world’s leading thinkers on the nature and question of evil. She opens this sharp, revelatory work with the idea that the reelection of Donald Trump is the outcome not simply of political and economic forces but the erosion of values that have been subject to derision for more than a century. She goes on to show how we have been quietly bombarded from all sides with messages that undermine basic moral principles. Misreadings of Adam Smith and Charles Darwin have led to a view of human nature we now accept as common sense: ideals are for losers, or for politicians who wish to deceive them. Neiman then explores how that ancient view, first formulated by pre-Socratic philosophers, has been steadily promoted by corporate interests and (pseudo) scientists in the modern era. Drawing on history—from European fascism to the moral failures of recent U.S. leaders—she demonstrates how the normalization of evil corrodes trust, destroys justice, and endangers our future.
This is a book for readers who refuse to accept moral confusion as the price of political life, and who believe that confronting evil is the first step toward renewing it.
About the Author.
Susan Neiman is an American moral philosopher, cultural commentator, and essayist. Her nine previous books, translated into many languages, explore the junctures between moral philosophy, metaphysics, and politics. She also writes regularly for the New York Review, the New York Times, Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, and many other publications.
About the Moderator.
Daniel Kehlmann was born in Munich in 1975. His novels and plays have won numerous prizes, including the Candide Prize, the Doderer Prize, the Kleist Prize, the Welt Literature Prize, and the Thomas Mann Prize. Measuring the World has been translated into more than forty languages and is one of the biggest successes in post-war German literature. His novel Tyll was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, as was his most recent novel, The Director, which was also named one of the New York Times’ ten best of 2025. He currently lives in Berlin and New York.