What can Socrates teach us about identity politics? Can Mary Wollstonecraft give us a fresh take on free speech in the age of big tech? What would Carl Jung make of the strange union of the new age and far right known as ‘Conspirituality’?

This course, led by award-winning public philosopher Jules Evans, looks at the big philosophical ideas and thinkers behind some of the noisiest issues of the day. With so much reaction and outrage in public debate, it can be difficult to step back and see the philosophical positions – the deep code – underlying these clashing currents. When we do, we can uncover essential insights that help us thrive in the times we live in.

Essential Philosophy for Modern Life will take you on a journey of understanding the key philosophical ideas and arguments underlying today’s disputes. We will unpack these ideas in a critical and non-dogmatic way, introducing you to some of the leading thinkers and philosophies that can help you see where people are coming from, where your own philosophical sympathies might lie, and why there are always two sides to every argument.

We all of us swim in the world of ideas and philosophies, often unaware that the unconsciously beliefs we hold were once invented and put forward by a long-dead philosopher. John Maynard Keynes wrote:

The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually slaves of some defunct economist.

The history of ideas can help us articulate and examine our own prejudices, consider the content and strengths and weaknesses of multiple positions, and weigh up alternative visions of the good life and the good society.