This weekend, my partner and I will be attending one of the fall festivals in the area. I expect a delightful bacchanal of apple cider donuts, perusing local crafts, and sampling the offerings from regional distilleries—all of which I'll need to distract myself from the knowledge that, across the Atlantic, at the University of Heidelberg, enlightened minds are convening for panels like "In the Name of the Emperor? Authority and Pluralism in the Grim Darkness of the Far Future" and "Are We the Baddies?...