In 2019 Baggini was named academic director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

His 2018 book, How The World Thinks: A Global History Of Philosophy received a warm critical reception, with The Scotsman describing it as “ingenious and open-hearted” and the Financial Times a “bold, fascinating book”.

In 2009 Baggini was philosopher-in-residence at Wellington College, a public school in Berkshire. In 2012 he was also commissioned by the National Trust to be the philosopher-in-residence for the White Cliffs of Dover where he was required to reflect on the chalk cliffs and their significance to the national identity.

In 1997 Baggini co-founded The Philosophers’ Magazine with Jeremy Stangroom. In 1999 he was a founder of the Humanist Philosophers’ Group, then part of the British Humanists Association. He is also a patron of Humanists UK.

In 1996 he was awarded a PhD from University College London for a thesis on the philosophy of personal identity.

Julian Baggini (born 1968) is a British philosopher, journalist and the author of over 20 books about philosophy written for a general audience. He is co-founder of The Philosophers’ Magazine and has written for numerous international newspapers and magazines. In addition to writing on the subject of philosophy he has also written books on atheism, secularism and the nature of national identity. He is a patron of Humanists UK.

Baggini was born in 1968 in Folkestone, the child of an Italian immigrant father and English mother. He grew up in Kent and was educated at the Harvey Grammar School, Folkestone from 1980 until 1987. He later attended Reading University and gained a BA in philosophy in 1990.