Lecture
What are we defending?
- Date
- Tuesday 24 June 2025
- Time
- Explanation
- Doors open at 18:30.
- Address
-
Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden - Room
- Great Auditorium
Universities and academic freedom play a vital role in upholding and promoting Enlightenment values and rationality in today’s society. Yet these values are under increasing pressure around the world. On the evening of the opening day of the NATO summit in The Hague Professor Pinker will reflect on the importance of these values.
Panel discussion
The lecture will be followed by an inspiring panel discussion, chaired by famed journalist and author Joris Luyendijk, featuring:
- Professor Pinker himself
- Professor Kim Wehle (Fulbright Scholar, Baltimore University, visiting professor at Leiden University)
- Professor Hester Bijl (Rector Magnificus of Leiden University)
The audience will also be invited to join the discussion.
About Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker is a professor of experimental psychology at Harvard University and is widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of our time. His books – particularly Enlightenment Now (2018) and Rationality (2021) – reach a wide audience, and his ideas resonate across the media, government and politics.
His work explores all aspects of language, the mind and human nature. He calls for a renewed appreciation of Enlightenment ideals, arguing that knowledge derived from scientific inquiry should form the foundation of our thinking – not faith, tradition or ideology. He believes that reason should guide our understanding of the human condition and the concept of progress.