rise of grassroots philosophy
TRANSCRIPT
The rise of grassroots philosophy:
a talk at the British Arts Festivals Association (BAFA) 11/2012
by Jules Evans, www.philosophyforlife.org
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
London Philosophy Club
2,500 membersTalks, debates, reading groups, socials We’ve done
events at HTLGI,
Voewood, Latitude, Galway
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
Lots of grassroots groups across UK
And many in schools and universities too..
Philosophy In Pubs, Liverpool
Philosophy Now magazine, Philosophy For All
Commercial ideas events organizers
• School of Life
• Intelligence Squared
• Idler Academy
• 5X15
• TED
•Wilderness, Port Eliot, Latitude, HTLGI etc
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
Internet giving talks and events a global reach
Why the rise of grassroots
philosophy?
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
Decline of traditional religion and desire for new forms of
community
School of Life Sunday Sermon
The crisis has got people thinking and talking...
The New Putney Debates: did inequality cause the recession?
People are hungry for more public and social philosophy
Michael Sandel giving a talk to 5,000 people in South Korea this
year
People are hungry for new ideas, new values, new experiences and forms of
togetherness
Cafe Oto’s 24-
hour Zizek-a-
thon
People are interested in well-being / art of living
Where next for philosophy festivals?
Dream big! Philosophy should blow people’s minds
Akhram Khan’s Desh, complete with animated elephant
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.
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.
Thank you! Get in touch at
www.philosophyforlife.org and @julesevans77