The Royal Institute of Philosophy

The Royal Institute of Philosophy Dedicated to the advancement of philosophy. youtube.com/royintphilosophy

18/08/2026

this week features Professor Regina Rini on the role of the ‘all purpose sage’, or lack thereof, in contemporary news culture.

Watch her full lecture on where the ‘public philosopher’ went: https://youtu.be/H_0E3ycaJ0E

17/08/2026

Who does TRIP benefit? 💭
It may be National Nonprofit Day in the U.S., but today we want to spotlight how funding allows us to continue our local partnerships, events hosting, and many other ways to ensure philosophy reaches everyone. 🌏

Go to royalinstitutephilosophy.org to:
✨ Find free philosophy papers and events
🌱 Make a donation to fund our activities
🫱🏾‍🫲🏽 Become a member and subscribe to our newsletter

📖 Read last year's Annual Report and Accounts document: https://issuu.com/royalinstitutephilosophy/docs/annual_report_and_accounts_2024-2025

"We have to make a profit to exist... We can't take out loans. We don't have assets like companies do. So we make an annual operating profit.

We don't have shareholders.... well, do we have shareholders? Because the way I see it, doing philosophy is a profitable business for our shareholders: for those people who engage with philosophy through our work."
- Melanie Nightingale, Managing Director of TRIP

12/08/2026

🌳The UK’s green spaces have turned a very different shade this summer. The hosepipe ban is back. All the signs are right in front of our eyes.

New in Think, philosophers Joseph Eastoe and Rupert Read make the case for adapting to what's already here, not just fighting to stop it. In an increasingly chaotic world, climate adaptation offers a vital route to resilience and readiness for disasters.

📖Read the full article here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/think/article/strategic-adaptation-for-emergency-resilience/B6BEF9885A1F9E5AE083FD368E73C3C6

11/08/2026

In this week, Dr Rowan Williams discusses the role of opacity in our connections to each other, and in the process of getting to know one another.

Watch his full lecture on empathy and ethics: https://youtu.be/DB008jxdX3Y

We are very sorry to hear that Sir Anthony Kenny, President of the Royal Institute of Philosophy from 2006-2009, has die...
10/08/2026

We are very sorry to hear that Sir Anthony Kenny, President of the Royal Institute of Philosophy from 2006-2009, has died. Kenny, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Oxford, is well-known for work in the history of philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of mind. His Royal Institute Annual Lecture on 'Knowledge, Belief, and Faith' was published in Philosophy in 2007.

Happy ! 🐈‍⬛ ❤️French philosopher Michel De Montaigne illustrates how simply playing with a cat can encourage us to thin...
08/08/2026

Happy ! 🐈‍⬛ ❤️French philosopher Michel De Montaigne illustrates how simply playing with a cat can encourage us to think outside of anthropocentric norms. It has also been said that cats naturally show 無為 (wu-wei) or 'action through inaction' in Tao philosophy, by moving with ease and not overthinking their actions.

At The Royal Institute of Philosophy, we have many cats who inspire us. Whether you're a cat person or not, it's amazing what we can learn from them! 🐾

06/08/2026

This week's has us pondering perception and other minds. Could two people see completely different colours, yet use the same words for them? This question comes from John Locke's inverted qualia thought experiment.

Locke asked us to imagine that the colour you experience when looking at grass is the colour someone else experiences when looking at blood, and vice versa. Since both of you learned the word "red" by pointing at the same objects, you would never know the difference. Your experiences could be swapped, and language alone could never reveal it.

The idea raises a deeper question about consciousness: how much of our inner experience is actually private, and unknowable to anyone else? 🧠

Watch the video and let us know what you think in the comments. 💭

What are the limits of historical explanations? 🤔💭"The historian needs perhaps to consider more seriously the question o...
05/08/2026

What are the limits of historical explanations? 🤔💭
"The historian needs perhaps to consider more seriously the question of what it is that he may be capable of explaining without ambiguity." - Quentin Skinner, 1966.

100 Papers That Shaped Our Thinking is a collection of papers handpicked and curated by our current President, Professor Jo Wolff, to mark our centenary. Read the full paper for free paper at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/philosophy/article/limits-of-historical-explanations/D58694AF3BF1D8481E888FBCE2985754

04/08/2026

For , we are featuring Professor Peter Hacker discuss the inevitability of philosophical problems that arise from language and communication.

Watch his full lecture on Wittgenstein: https://youtu.be/fcNEqdGGnvc

Today is International Friendship Day 🤝 We're marking it by thanking the friends of TRIP: the partner organisations acro...
30/07/2026

Today is International Friendship Day 🤝 We're marking it by thanking the friends of TRIP: the partner organisations across the UK who bring philosophy to their own communities. 🌻

Explore the full network and find an event near you by visiting https://royalinstitutephilosophy.org/philosophy-events/across-our-network/ and subscribing to our newsletter for monthly updates!

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