20.10.2025
The Case for a Philosophical Life
w/ Agnes Callard
The secret to a good life? Thinking like Socrates. On Monday, October 20, we welcomed renowned philosopher and public intellectual Agnes Callard to mark the Dutch translation of her new book Open Socrates. A singular voice in contemporary thought, Callard is known for her ability to make ancient ideas feel urgently alive—through her viral essays in The New Yorker and her searching explorations of what it means to be a good, virtuous, ethical person.
In this public talk, Callard uncovered the radical force at the heart of Socratic philosophy: the idea that we need one another to ask the most important questions—about love, death, politics and how to live. She argued that Socratic philosophy is not about having the right answers, but about being radically open to change — through conversation, self-examination and the often uncomfortable process of thinking in public. Callard invited us to rediscover philosophy as a shared, transformative practice and to consider what it really means to lead an examined life.
Participants
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Agnes Callard
Agnes Callard, born in 1976 in Budapest, is an American philosopher and associate professor at the University of Chicago. Specializing in ancient philosophy and ethics, she’s known for her work on public philosophy and her book on aspiration theory. She hosts the podcast “Minds Almost Meeting” with Robin Hansonand received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2019. She’s a regular contributor to prominent publications like The New Yorker and The New York Times.
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Silvia Vari
Silvia Vari is a PhD student in Italian at the University of Warwick. Her research explores how Italian comics narrate (forced) migration in the Mediterranean, focusing on migrant storytelling and framing strategies. She is co-founder of the Warwick Comics Research Network and, since 2023, co-organiser of the Roman underground comics festival Crack! Fumetti Dirompenti.