大象传媒

Michael Berkeley talks to the philosopher Julian Baggini about the pleasures of serendipity, transience, philosophy and music.

The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, Do They Think You鈥檙e Stupid? and What鈥檚 It All About? are just three of the eye-catchingly titled books by Julian Baggini. He鈥檚 written 19 books in all, is the founding editor of The Philosophers鈥� Magazine, writes for newspapers, magazines and think tanks, and appears on radio and television. His latest book is How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy.

Julian has been described as a philosopher鈥檚 philosopher, but he also has a mission to liberate philosophy from its ivory tower and bring it to the general reader. The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten 鈥� his collection of 100 brief thought experiments 鈥� has been described as 鈥榤ental fun-sized treats鈥� and 鈥榯he Sudoku of moral philosophy鈥�.

Julian tells Michael about the joy he鈥檚 felt discovering pieces of music by Brahms, Ravel and Dvorak through chance encounters, and how he鈥檚 come to love music written for a video game by Jessica Curry when he met her on University Challenge.

He believes that both music and philosophy can help us appreciate beauty, come to terms with the transience of existence, and accept that life can be bitter and sweet at the same time.

Producer: Jane Greenwood
A Loftus production for 大象传媒 Radio 3