Byung-Chul Han for the first time in Portugal

He travels only once or twice a year. Leading a "monastic" life allows him to achieve "transcendence", surrounded by his favourite flowers, the Magnolias, and through music, which he listens to and plays on the piano early in the morning - mainly Bach. Despite the discomfort that travelling represents, Byung-Chul Han, one of today's most renowned philosophers, accepted the invitation of the Católica Faculty of Human Sciences to be the speaker, on April 13th, of another conference commemorating the creation of the Faculty, integrated into the "50 Years Conferences" Cycle.

"Spirit of Hope" was the title of the conference as well as the topic of his most recent book, dedicated to reflecting on the dimension of Hope, which according to the philosopher, "is the spirit of an idea that goes beyond what we can imagine. As if it were a dimension of the soul that allows us to be believers in the future."

"It's not optimism," the philosopher recalled, "it's having hope whatever the outcome. It is creation and not creativity. It's being inspired by the new, yet that doesn't keep us away from the negative aspects of life," he concluded.

Byung-Chul han, born in South Korea in 1959, is currently professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the University of Berlin (UdK). His most recent works, "Society of Tiredness "and "Society of Transparency", analyse the structures of society in the 21st century to understand how the model of capitalism has effects on people's psychological lives.

At the Conference, the essayist left the appeal for the University  "to become a University of Hope, thus helping in the formation of people, capable of reintroducing this spirit into the world."

During the dinner that followed the conference, the director of the Faculty of Human Sciences, Nelson Ribeiro, mentioned that the celebration of the 50th anniversary "is a milestone in the life of any institution. It is also and above all, the case of the Faculty of Human Sciences, which has reinvented itself at every turn, embracing the winds of change while maintaining its founding values."

"In our ongoing quest to provide our students with an education that enables them to build a more just society, it is crucial to be able to reflect on the challenges ahead. This is much more urgent in our contemporary fast-paced, technologically driven societies of late capitalism, which Professor Byung-Chul Han has brilliantly diagnosed in his work," he added.

In closing, the President of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Isabel Capeloa Gil thanked all those who throughout the history of the Faculty "have made it what it is today. A successful faculty, a remarkable example of the humanities and social sciences and a studio unit that has always known how to reinvent itself and make history."