Philosophy Now Festival

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Philosophy Now Festival
GenrePhilosophy festival
FrequencyEvery two years
Location(s)London
CountryUnited Kingdom
Inaugurated2011
SponsorPhilosophy Now magazine
Website https://philosophynow.org/festival

The Philosophy Now Festival is a large philosophy festival held every two years in central London.

Contents

The Festival is hosted and organised by the newsstand magazine Philosophy Now , which aims to take philosophy to the widest possible audience. The Festival is open to the general public, at little or no cost.

The first Philosophy Now Festival was held in 2011. [1] It was held partly to mark the 20th anniversary of the launch of Philosophy Now magazine. [2] Since then the Philosophy Now Festival has become a regular biannual event. The second Philosophy Now Festival was held in 2013, [3] the third in 2015, the fourth in January 2018 and the fifth in January 2020. [4] Each festival is a one-day event involving contributions from more than a dozen philosophy organisations including Philosophy For All and the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

Venue

The Festival is held at Conway Hall, a large art deco building in Bloomsbury in central London. [5] The Festival uses the entire building, and there are usually three or four events running at any one time.

Against Stupidity Award

A regular feature of the Philosophy Now Festival is the presentation of the Philosophy Now Award for Contributions in the Fight Against Stupidity. [6] [7] This always includes an acceptance speech, sometimes made via a video link.

Before the 2015 Philosophy Now Festival it was announced that the Award would for the first time be given to a children's author, Cressida Cowell. [8] [9]

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References

  1. "I Think, Therefore I Am Attending the Philosophy Now Festival". Time Out. London. 17 December 2011.
  2. "The Philosophy Now Festival". Philosophy Now. London. March 2012.
  3. "Philosophy Now Festival 2013 | Philosophy Now". philosophynow.org. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. "Philosophy Now Festival 2018 | Philosophy Now". philosophynow.org. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  5. "Philosophy Now Festival" PhilEvents Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  6. "Philosophy Now Award for Contributions in the Fight Against Stupidity" . Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  7. "The World's Biggest Problem is Stupidity". Daily Telegraph. London. 15 December 2011.
  8. "Children's author Cressida Cowell scoops philosophers' award for fight against stupidity". The Guardian. London. 22 October 2015.
  9. "Cressida Cowell wins award for 'combating stupidity'". Daily Telegraph. London. 22 October 2015.