While we keep tabs on all the latest lockdown details, we're putting the spotlight on our amazing line-up of guests for the 2021 Readers' Festival. And today, we're introducing Tim Dean.
Appearing in two events, 'Ask the Science Nerds' and 'How We Became Human', Tim is one of Australia’s brightest philosophers and author of 'How We Became Human and Why We Need to Change'.
Meet Tim Dean…
What does the daily life of a philosopher look like?
To the untrained eye, it looks like a lot of reading, staring into space and head scratching, occasionally walking around the local park and stopping from time to time to jot a few thoughts in a notebook. But to the astute observer, it's a hive of activity.
What do you hope your book will contribute to social narratives?
I want to remind us that we are essentially social animals, and we carry the genetic and cultural baggage of our ancestors, but they packed for a very different world to the one we live in today.
So, on the one hand, I hope we can come to forgive ourselves for being animals out of our natural element, but also empower us to realise that we can change ourselves, and our world, to make it a better place for everyone.
Do you think there will be debate around some of your ideas presented in How We Became Human?
I fully expect, and welcome, debate around the ideas in my book. I hope that the perspective I offer is useful, but I don't pretend to have all the answers, and I am open to other ideas and perspectives that can help us deal with the serious social and moral problems we face today.
What do you read in your spare time? What's currently on your reading rotation?
I have a rather long to-read list of philosophy, science, history, anthropology and politics books that only seems to get longer by the day!
I've just finished Artificial Intimacy by Rob Brooks, which is a fascinating look at how technology and biology are colliding to change the way we think about sex today. I also loved Stan Grant's With the Falling of the Dusk, looking at how the world is changing more than we might think.
That, in turn, has inspired me to read Francis Fukuyama's classic, The End of History and the Last Man, not because I agree with Fukuyama's thesis that 'history' is progressive, but because I'm increasingly interested in challenging that thesis. I'm also reading Aristotle's Rhetoric, because one of my core projects (maybe my next book?) is around improving discourse and helping us to tackle seemingly intractable disagreements.
I won't even mention the dozen or so other books waiting in the wings to be read!
MRF will be hosted in a Covid-safe manner over the weekend of 21 + 22 August 2021. We will keep you posted about any event changes as they arise.