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The Institute of ideas is committed to:

  • The legacy of the Enlightenment: scientific and social experimentation, intellectual ambition and curiosity
  • Embracing change and making history
  • Art for art's sake, knowledge for its own sake, and education as an end in itself.
  • Freedom. To think, to act, to say what needs saying - even if it offends others
  • Challenging irrational social panics
  • Open and robust debate, in which ideas can be interrogated, argued for and fought over
  • Civil liberties, with no ifs or buts

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    24 May 2012

    French Children Don't Throw Food More...


    29 May 2012

    A crisis of caring? More...


    14 June 2012

    The military-industrial complex today More...


    21 - 23 July 2012

    The Academy 2012 More... and Academy Scholarships


    Will the EU be the death of democracy?
    May 31, 2012
    As Ireland goes to the polls again to vote on an EU treaty that is already a fait d'accompli, as extremist parties reject the politics of austerity that Angela Merkel wants to be removed from the grubby hands of majority voting, we ask what is happening to democracy across Europe? Is it being killed off by the EU or is the EU our best defence against resurgent populism and nationalism?
    Embracing the Other? The philosophy of multiculturalism
    June 9, 2012
    As part of My Night with Philosophers, organised by the Institut Français du Royaume-Uni - a whole night of debates, films, music, conferences, performances and more, from 7pm on Friday 8 June to 7am Saturday 9 June - the Institute of Ideas will be hosting a special roundtable rumble.