Jules Evans is policy director at the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary, University of London. He is the author of Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations, which was published in 19 countries and was a Times Book of the Year. Jules has written for The Times, Financial Times, Guardian, Spectator and WIRED and is a BBC New Generation Thinker. He also runs the London Philosophy Club, the world’s biggest philosophy club. Jules’ most recent book The Art of Losing Control is out 5th May published by Canongate.
At the Idler Academy he’ll be talking about ‘ecstatic experiences’. Humans have always sought ways of getting out of our heads and dissolving our egos into something bigger than us. But modern western culture, and particularly western psychiatry, has for three centuries been suspicious and hostile to the idea. Now, however, a scientific consensus is now emerging that such experiences can be good for us. So how can we find ecstasy in a post-religious and sceptical culture? So, can we dissolve our selves without losing our minds..?