The Popular Renaissance

Philosophy is experiencing a surge in popularity. Jules Evans wonders if the heightened interest, manifested in the form of philosophy clubs, will survive:

Melvyn Bragg, the novelist and broadcaster who presents In Our Time, a radio programme devoted to the history of ideas, puts this down to the rise of a “mass intelligentsia”. “It used to be a very small minority that got together to discuss ideas,” he says. “Now it’s a very large minority. And that’s mainly a result of the colossal increase in university graduates, from 5 per cent in 1960 to 40 per cent today. There’s now a huge section of the population willing and able to take on challenging ideas.”