Julian Baggini
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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\\u2019re Stupid? and What\\u2019s It All About? are just three of the eye-catchingly titled books by Julian Baggini. He\\u2019s written 19 books in all, is the founding editor of The Philosophers\\u2019 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\\u2019s 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 \\u2013 his collection of 100 brief thought experiments \\u2013 has been described as \\u2018mental fun-sized treats\\u2019 and \\u2018the Sudoku of moral philosophy\\u2019.
Julian tells Michael about the joy he\\u2019s felt discovering pieces of music by Brahms, Ravel and Dvorak through chance encounters, and how he\\u2019s 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\\nA Loftus production for BBC Radio 3
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