AFTER EQUALITY
Across history, every revolution has promised equality. Every generation imagines it can dismantle status, privilege and hierarchy for good. Yet class systems persist – they mutate, reappear and entrench themselves in new forms.
From aristocracies and meritocracies, to inherited wealth and cultural capital, modern societies remain obsessed with rank. The old elites may fall, but new ones quickly take their place.
Philosopher Hanno Sauer challenges one of the foundational assumptions of contemporary politics: that a truly classless society is possible. Drawing on history, psychology and moral philosophy, he argues that hierarchy is not a bug of civilisation but one of its permanent features.
Hanno Sauer [NDL/GER]
Hanno Sauer is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, specialising in ethics and political philosophy. His book The Invention of Good and Evil: A World History of Morality has been translated into 20 languages and was listed as one of the best books of 2024 by The New Yorker, The Economist, and others. His most recent book, Klasse: Die Entstehung von Oben und Unten (German) is about social class and status.
Matt Beard
Matt Beard went to philosophy school so that you don’t have to. He is the Program Director of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship at The Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. He is an award-winning public philosopher, kids podcaster, ethics advisor and leadership facilitator. Matt works as a storyteller of ideas: helping people find their unique connection points to ethical reasoning and philosophical wisdom, with a sense of practicality and play.
We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation - the custodians of the country on which we meet - and acknowledge their Elders, past and present.
The views and opinions expressed by the Festival participants are not necessarily the views of The Ethics Centre and our partners.