It’s a great pleasure to announce Forbidden Histories supporter Jules Evans as the winner of the last Patreon prize draw. Jules, who won a copy of Adam Crabtree’s seminal From Mesmer to Freud: Magnetic Sleep and the Roots of Psychological Healing, is currently a research fellow at the Centre for the History of Emotions, Queen Mary University of London. His great passion, however, is public engagement, and Jules has an impressive track record making humanities research tangibly relevant to audiences from all walks of life.
Describing himself as a “gonzo philosopher”, for the last decade Jules has helped run the London Philosophy Club, which has grown to become the biggest philosophy club in the world, with over 10,000 members. A BBC New Generation Thinker, he has presented his work on BBC 2’s Newsnight, the Culture Show, on BBC Radio 3 and 4, RTE-1 and ABC Australia. Jules has given a TEDx talk on his work on the relationship between classical philosophy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and the modern politics of well-being. He wrote a book on that topic, Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations (2012). He has also written for Financial Times, The Times, the Guardian, the Spectator, WIRED, and other papers, and he has delivered lectures and talks at events and places like the Hay-On-Wye festival, the Galway Arts Festival, Latitude, Burning Man, the School of Life, the Sunday Assembly, the British Museum, and the RSA.
Jules’ research has focused on the history, philosophy and psychology of well-being, and how different cultures define and seek human flourishing. His latest project investigated the history of ecstatic experiences in modern culture, and how altered states of consciousness can be healing as well as toxic, resulting in his book The Art of Losing Control. A Philosopher’s Search for Ecstatic Experience (2017).
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One of Jules’ current projects is researching moments of ‘spiritual awakening’ which involve temporary psychosis, and he is currently co-editing a book on this topic, to be published later this year. Not least, Jules is also researching the life and work of psychedelic philosopher Aldous Huxley and his vision for integrated education.
For more information on Jules, and links so some of his articles, blog posts and videos, visit his website at www.philosophyforlife.org.
