2018 Simon Blackburn

Simon Blackburn, Professor of Philosophy at Trinity College Cambridge, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the New College of the Humanities.

Professor Simon Blackburn is one of Britain's most eminent and influential philosophers, known not least for his defense of views that come close to David Hume's views. This applies to issues both in ethics and in language philosophy. Among his most notable books are Spreading the Word (1985), Quasi-Realism (1993) and Ruling Passions (1998). In recent times, Blackburn has distinguished himself by writing philosophy books for an educated public, for example Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy (1999) and Truth: A Guide (2005), to which his Pufendorf lectures are thematically linked. In an interview, however, Blackburn defends himself against the idea that he would engage in popularization: "I don't bring philosophy to people; I bring people to it. I'd be mortified if anyone could show that in any of my work I'd said that anything was simple."

Link to an interview with Blackburn: Interview with Simon Blackburn

29 May – 1 June 2018.

• Truth and Anxiety
• Peirce, James & Pragmatism
• The Genuine Limits of Reason
• Truth in a Difficult Climate