Julian Baggini

How to Think like a Philosopher
2023-07-26 17:00 - 18:00 (Europe/London) | Online
In this course, Julian Baggini will extract the key lessons to be learned from the philosophers who have been specialists in sound thinking for millennia. In an age which fetishizes novelty and innovation, there is a need to relearn the greatest lessons from the past and appreciate that which is timeless is always timely. In addition to the technical nuts-and-bolts of reasoning, he will focus on the attitudes, habits, and character traits that make the difference between the clever and the wise. We’ll look at the many traps that await the would-be skilled reasoner and see why, like any tool, reasoning can be misapplied and misused, even with the best of intentions. And we won’t shy away from the sheer difficulty of thinking well. When sugar-coating goes too far, you end up with sickly confectionery and no nourishment. In our time-poor attention economy we are seduced by the promise of hacks, shortcuts, cognitive accelerators. But thinking reaches limits of efficiency very quickly and every corner cut comes at a cost. We need to hack off the hacks, not find more of them.

How to Think Like a Philosopher
2024-01-21 11:20 - 12:00 | The All Saints, Lewes, BN7, United Kingdom
The Sunday Times bestselling author of ‘How the World Thinks’ shares his twelve key principles for a more humane and balanced approach to thinking in this vital new talk.

Philosophical Times
2024-02-24 10:30 - 11:30, 2024-03-16 10:30 - 11:30, 2024-06-01 10:30 - 11:30, 2024-11-23 10:30 - 11:30, 2024-12-07 10:30 - 11:30 | St Georges Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
A regular exploration of some of the big ideas that connect with and emerge from the month’s news stories. Sit back and enjoy the live conversation or take part as much as you like – this is always a lively and inspiring discussion!

Philosophy Salon: Philosophy & Fiction
2024-03-27 19:30 - 21:30 | St Georges Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
Philosophy is often presented as dry, analytic and logical. However, there have always been writers who have explored philosophy through the imaginative lens of fiction. In this salon, Julian Baggini will be in conversation with two of our most gifted philosophical novelists, Samantha Harvey and Joanna Kavenna. You’ll have a chance to join the discussion too.

Julian Baggini faces the music! Feat. The Invisible Apples
2024-06-03 19:30 - 21:00 | The Folk House, Bristol, 40a Park St, Bristol, BS1 5JG, United Kingdom
Come and have fun, listen to some great music, drink, eat and chat…..and at the same time raise money for two very worthy causes. The Invisible Apples will play 2 unplugged sets from their album ‘The Golden Threads and Invisible Lights of Duka’, and in between will be ‘in conversation’ with Julian Baggini about their collaboration, how they create their work, and maybe even, why humans create music & what the point of it is! A Bristol Humanists fundraiser.

Melting Pot
2024-07-18 12:00 - 2024-07-19 17:00 | Ostrava, Czech Republic
Very excited to be taking part in two events at the Melting Pot festival win Czechia.

Edinburgh International Book Festival
2024-08-20 - 2024-08-21 | Edinburgh International Book Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Taking part in three events.

How can we justify eating steak?
2024-09-07 11:00 - 11:45 | Kenwood House, Hampstead Heath, London, United Kingdom
Discussion panel at the FT Weekend Festival with butcher and author Jessica Wragg, restaurateur and writer Tim Hayward and restaurateur Huw Gott.

South Downs Food Festival
2024-09-15 11:00 - 17:00 | Stansted Park, Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, PO9 6DX
Speaking and Chairing. “On day two we explore food, farming, health and the environment. We are excited to welcome the philosopher Julian Baggini to discuss the ideas in his forthcoming book How the World Eats. James Baird, farmer and founder of Weald to Waves, will share his experience creating a network of wildlife corridors while also producing food, and Peter Gladwin will discuss sustainable vineyards and farm to fork. Beth Mander, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, will examine the ‘Big Food Redesign Challenge’.”

How The World Eats
2024-09-17 19:30 - 20:30 | Wanstead Library, Spratt Hall Road, Wanstead, London, E11 2RQ, United Kingdom
Philosopher Julian Baggini has for two decades demystified the role of philosophy in public life, discussing in clear and easy-to-understand terms the principles behind some of our modern dilemmas. In How The World Eats: A Global Food Philosophy, he examines how the choices we make about what to eat influence the way we live, with most of us now relying on a global web of food production, distribution, consumption and disposal. The need for a better understanding of how we feed ourselves has never been more urgent, he argues, as he explores new technologies and practices and calls for a new humane global food philosophy.

How The World Eats – Julian Baggini talks to Nicola Cutcher
2024-09-22 13:30 - 14:30 | Abergavenny Food Festival, Wales, United Kingdom
Throughout history and across the world, human beings have fed themselves in many different ways. Yet as Julian shows, with the help of myriad experts, there are principles for a global food philosophy that all good food systems share. As we face the challenge of feeding a growing planet, we need to understand what these principles are and how to apply them in the 21st century. Julian Baggini is a philosopher, journalist and author of over 20 books aimed at a non-specialist audience. Join him for a sneak preview of his newest book How the World Eats: A Global Food Philosophy, and expect some surprising insights. Nicola Cutcher is a journalist, writer and filmmaker.

Philosophy Salon: What Do Politicians Owe Us?
2024-11-04 19:30 - 21:15 | St Georges Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
Join philosopher Julian Baggini, MP and biographer of Burke Jesse Norman and Thangam Debbonaire for a deep dive into the nature of democracy in which you, the audience, will also have a say.
250 years ago this month, Edmund Burke delivered a speech to the electors of Bristol telling them “Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.” In other words, as their MP, his job was to decide what was in the citizen’s best interests, not necessarily to do what they wanted. Is this an ideal of democracy that is out of date or more urgent than ever? What do our politicians owe us in 2024?

Philosophy Salon: No Hard Feelings? The Positivity of "Negative"
2024-11-07 19:30 - 21:30 | St Georges Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
In her two most recent books, acclaimed American Philosopher Myisha Cherry has written about the positive uses of anger and the failures of forgiveness in public and political life. In a polarised world in which civility seems to be in decline, is there really a case for rage and against forgiveness?
In this informal salon, Cherry will be in conversation with philosopher Julian Baggini and Bristol University philosopher Joanna Burch-Brown, and there’ll be a chance to ask questions of your own

How the World Eats: A Global Food Philosophy
2024-11-09 14:30 - 16:30 | Bournemouth West Cliff Hotel, 7 Durley Chine Rd, Bournemouth, BH2 5JS, United Kingdom
Julian Baggini will talk about his new book which examines how our food choices shape our lives and societies. He will explore diverse global food practices and the urgent challenges facing our food systems today including cutting-edge technologies like GM foods, cultured meat, and the ethics of ultra-processed foods. He advocates a humane global food philosophy to create a more sustainable and equitable food system for the future.

How the World Eats
2024-11-12 19:30 - 20:30 | Toppings Edinburgh, 2 Blenheim Place, Edinburgh, EH7 5JH, United Kingdom
How does the food we eat shape our lives? Philosopher and author Julian Baggini joins us in the bookshop to answer this very question. Extracting essential principles to guide how we eat in the future, Baggini’s latest book How the World Eats advocates for a pluralistic, humane, resourceful and equitable global food philosophy, so we can build a food system fit for the twenty-first century and beyond.

How the World Eats
2024-11-13 19:30 - 20:30 | Toppings St Andrews, 7 Greyfriars Garden, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9HG, United Kingdom
How we live is shaped by how we eat. You can see this in the vastly different approaches to growing, preparing and eating food around the world, such as the hunter-gatherer Hadza in Tanzania whose sustainable lifestyle is under threat in a crowded planet, or Western societies whose food is farmed or bred in vast intensive enterprises. And most of us now rely on a complex global food web of production, distribution, consumption and disposal, which is now contending with unprecedented challenges. The need for a better understanding of how we feed ourselves has never been more urgent. In this wide-ranging and definitive book, philosopher Julian Baggini expertly delves into the best and worst food practises in a huge array of different societies, past and present. His exploration takes him from cutting-edge technologies, such as new farming methods, cultured meat, GM and astronaut food, to the ethics and health of ultra processed food and aquaculture, as he takes a forensic look at the effectiveness of our food governance, the difficulties of food wastage and the effects of commodification. Extracting essential principles to guide how we eat in the future, How the World Eats advocates for a pluralistic, humane, resourceful and equitable global food philosophy, so we can build a food system fit for the twenty-first century and beyond.

How the World Eats
2024-11-14 19:00 - 20:45 | Admiral Woods Bar, 29 Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 6BZ, United Kingdom
Philosopher Julian Baggini has for two decades demystified the role of philosophy in public life, discussing in clear and easy-to-understand terms the principles behind some of our modern dilemmas.
In How The World Eats: A Global Food Philosophy, he examines how the choices we make about what to eat influence the way we live, with most of us now relying on a global web of food production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Throughout history and across the world, human beings have fed themselves in many different ways. Yet as Julian shows, with the help of myriad experts, there are principles for a global food philosophy that all good food systems share.

How the World Eats
2024-12-02 10:30 - 12:30 | Wells and Mendip Museum, 8 Cathedral Green, Wells, BA5 2UA, United Kingdom
Julian Baggini offers a comprehensive overview of the global food network. He makes a convincing case for philosophy to spearhead a multi-disciplinary approach that will provide a framework for managing the demands, conflicts, inequities, and dangers that jeopardise the network’s effective operation

Building a fairer food system in the face of the climate crisis
2025-01-16 18:30 - 21:00 | Financial Times, Bracken House, 1 Friday St, London, EC4M 9BT, United Kingdom
What does a truly equitable food system look like in the face of climate change?
And more particularly, how will we tackle the crisis in the continent most threatened by climatic shocks: Africa. Where 110 million people have been directly affected by dramatic climate events.
A thoughtfully selected panel will bring diverse perspectives from rural smallholders, academia, private philanthropy and business in agriculture to provide actionable steps we can all take to create a just and sustainable global food system.

Global food philosophy
2025-02-04 19:30 - 21:00 | Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Initution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN, United Kingdom
The global food system is incredibly complex and in crisis. In his new book, How the World Eats, Julian Baggini argues that we can use philosophical tools to identify the key principles that should govern a food system fit for the 21st century and beyond, drawing on the empirical base of how humans have fed themselves across the globe and history.

The Light in the Middle of the Tunnel
2025-02-07 - 2025-02-08 | Online
Existential philosophy has from the outset prided itself on an unblinking view of reality at it is, without illusions. As such, it is unable to provide the kind of reassurance, hope and comfort that many feel they need in our turbulent times. It can nonetheless, give us resources to cope with adversity, affirm life and uphold values. This talk will explore ways which we can use such resources without what Sartre called the false hope in belief that we will prevail and the end of the tunnel will come.

How the World Eats
2025-02-10 18:00 - 19:30 | The Conduit Club, 6 Langley St, London, WC2H 9JA, United Kingdom
Julian Baggini embarks on a thought-provoking exploration of food across cultures, uncovering the best and worst of how societies approach feeding themselves. From cutting-edge technologies like cultured meat to the ethics of aquaculture and food commodification, Baggini exposes the big ideas shaping our plates—and our futures.
Baggini comes to The Conduit with a global food philosophy that is humane and resourceful, offering new ways to create fair and sustainable food systems for the 21st century.

Feast and Famine
2025-03-13 15:30 - 16:30 | Theatre by the Lake, Lakeside, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 5DJ, United Kingdom
Philosopher Julian Baggini delves into the best and worst food practices in a huge array of societies, past and present, exploring new farming methods, cultured meat, GM astronaut food and the ethics and health consequences of ultra processing. Joining Julian is Pen Vogler who investigates the history of food and drink at the centre of social upheavals: medieval inns boosted by the plague; the Enclosures that finished off the celebratory roast goose; the Victorian chemist searching for unadulterated mustard and the post-war supermarkets luring customers with strawberries.

Philosophy Café
2025-03-15 11:00 - 12:00 | Stonewell Spring, 5 Stonewell, Lancaster, LA1 1NJ, United Kingdom
Welcome to Julian Baggini’s Philosophy Café at Stonewell Spring, the delicious deli and café just down Moor Lane from The Dukes and The Quarterhouse, to discuss ‘how to think like a philosopher’ with best-selling popular philosophy author Julian Baggini.

How the World Eats
2025-03-16 11:30 - 12:30 | Lancaster Library, Market Square, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1HY, United Kingdom
“In his latest book, Julian Baggini explores how we grow, make, buy and eat our food around the world, and proposes the principles for a perennial and global philosophy of food.:

Philosophy Matters
2025-04-05 19:30 - 21:00 | St Georges Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
Celebrate the inaugural National Philosophy Fortnight with an evening showcasing the impact of philosophy on a range of vital social issues, including asylum, medicine and historical racial injustice.
In the first part, our philosopher in residence Julian Baggini will host a panel discussion with University of Bristol philosophers Joanna Burch-Brown, Rebecca Buxton and Havi Carel. After the break you’ll have the opportunity to talk more informally with the philosophers over a drink.
