Download - Rise of Grassroots Philosophy
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The rise of grassroots philosophy:
a talk at the British Arts Festivals Association (BAFA) 11/2012
by Jules Evans, www.philosophyforlife.org
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Philosophy groups are mushrooming all over the world
850 philosophy groups on
meetup.com, in 384 cities across 25
countries, with a combined
membership of 125,000
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London Philosophy Club
2,500 membersTalks, debates, reading groups, socials We’ve done
events at HTLGI,
Voewood, Latitude, Galway
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The Skeptics • Started in late 1970s,
committed to scientific and rational thinking
•Now huge grassroots movement
• 41 Skeptics in the Pub around UK
• Events like TAM and Night of 400 Billion Stars
• Transformed sci-com
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Lots of grassroots groups across UK
And many in schools and universities too..
Philosophy In Pubs, Liverpool
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Philosophy Now magazine, Philosophy For All
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Commercial ideas events organizers
• School of Life
• Intelligence Squared
• Idler Academy
• 5X15
• TED
•Wilderness, Port Eliot, Latitude, HTLGI etc
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Mainstream philosophy magazines
Helping to organize events like the Month of
Philosophy in Holland, the
Modena philosophy
festival in Italy, Les Nuits de
Philosophie in France
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Internet giving talks and events a global reach
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Why the rise of grassroots
philosophy?
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Rise of the ‘mass intelligentsia’
• 300 book festivals in the UK
• 50,000 people in book clubs in UK
• Museum + gallery attendance up 100% from 2000 to 2010
• Classic FM most popular commercial radio station
• People want to learn and discuss ideas together
Expansion of % going to university in the UK
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Decline of traditional religion and desire for new forms of
community
School of Life Sunday Sermon
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The crisis has got people thinking and talking...
The New Putney Debates: did inequality cause the recession?
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People are hungry for more public and social philosophy
Michael Sandel giving a talk to 5,000 people in South Korea this
year
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People are hungry for new ideas, new values, new experiences and forms of
togetherness
Cafe Oto’s 24-
hour Zizek-a-
thon
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People are interested in well-being / art of living
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Where next for philosophy festivals?
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Dream big! Philosophy should blow people’s minds
Akhram Khan’s Desh, complete with animated elephant
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Think multi-media
Wanye McGregor’s FAR, a choreography based on Roy Porter’s Flesh In the Age of Reason
Ideas best connect with people in combination with other media, like art / animation (think of the RSA Animate videos); stories and narratives (think of Sophie’s World or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance); photography (Alain de Botton’s books), comedy (Woody Allen’s films), and music / dance.
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Think interactive...and international
Grassroots philosophy is becoming more internationally-connected
And philosophy in general is becoming more interactive. The distance between the ‘intellectual’ and the ‘masses’ has been reduced - the masses have wised up, and don’t want to be spoken down to.
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Thank you! Get in touch at
www.philosophyforlife.org and @julesevans77