Sharing Knowledge

The Philosopher as Advisor

Philosophy is a discipline that can be deployed in a broad range of areas. The philosophers at Utrecht University can therefore be deployed on numerous issues and projects in order to clarify their structure and highlight assumptions. Philosophers regularly participate in advisory committees, consultative groups and think tanks because they often raise questions that others may miss. We also regularly give lectures about our research and often cooperate with empirical researchers. Researchers in philosophy publish in newspapers, give public lectures, engage with secondary education and also provide refresher courses for teachers.

Utrecht Philosophical Café

Every month the Philosophical Café takes place in Utrecht, in Café De Tussentijd at Janskerkhof 24. In the Philosophical Café, philosophers from Dutch and sometimes international universities talk about their research and enter into conversation with the attendees. Topics range from free will to melancholy and from technology to climate ethics. See public activities (in Dutch)

The importance of human rights in moral issues

Utrecht-based philosophers Marjan Slob and Esmée Schilte have collaborated with lawyers and anthropologists in compiling a public book outlining the relevance of human rights in considerations of privacy, climate change and the international rule of law. The book Mensenrechten in beweging ('Human Rights on the Move', Nieuw Amsterdam publishers) was published in June 2014.

Bij Nader Inzien ('On Closer Inspection')

In September 2014, a group of Utrecht-based philosophers instigated the academic philosophy blog Bij Nader Inzien. Philosophers from various Dutch and foreign universities provide a philosophical interpretation of current issues.

Philosophy lectures for a wider audience

At the request of Home Academy Publishers, Herman Philipse has compiled a series of philosophical lectures on a wide range of subjects, including climate change, free will and religious philosophy.

In the media

Utrecht-based philosophers regularly give interviews and contribute to national and regional newspapers in the Netherlands (including Trouw, NRC Handelsblad, de Volkskrant, Nederlands Dagblad, Parool, Brabants Dagblad), magazines and journals (including De Groene Amsterdammer, Filosofie en Praktijk, Filosofie Magazine, Volzin), TV and radio programmes (including Buitenhof, Het Filosofisch Kwintet, Kunststof) and blogs (including Sociale Vraagstukken, Crooked Timber.) Here you can view the latest media appearances of Utrecht University philosophers (in Dutch).