Why do more and more people feel they can no longer freely express their political views? This lecture explores how moralizing in public debates creates social pressure and the role the media plays in this process.
Public Lecture by Prof. Dr. Thomas Petersen (Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research)
For several years now, there has been intense public debate about the extent to which freedom of speech is still guaranteed in Germany. One of the triggers for this was a 2021 survey by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research, which found that only about half of the population feels they can freely express their political opinions. At the same time, one repeatedly hears complaints that there is too much moralizing in public debate. This lecture will explain why these two issues are linked. Drawing on representative surveys conducted by the Allensbach Institute, it will describe the social-psychological mechanisms that generate the social pressure many citizens complain about. It will highlight the role played by the mass media in this process and explain why a certain degree of social control is the price one must pay for a free society.
This lecture is part of the Colloquium Fundamentale series. During the summer semester of 2026, this series is dedicated to the opportunities and risks of moralizing in public debates and takes place as part of the BMFTR-funded project MoWiKo (Moralizing in Science Communication—Causes, Forms, and Effects). The focus is on how moral judgments influence public debates, freedom of speech, and academic freedom, and under what conditions they lead to productive criticism of abuses or to a problematic narrowing of discourse.
