Professor Roger Crisp, UOIs Director, is featured in Portraits of Philosophers, a new, beautifully crafted photobook featuring thirteen contemporary philosophers through portraiture and extended dialogue. Over two years, the makers engaged in conversations exploring fundamental questions on the human condition: identity, mortality, freedom, love, and the practice of philosophy itself. The resulting book combines striking black-and-white photography with substantive interviews, which attempt to make philosophical inquiry more accessible.
Through striking black-and-white portraits and candid, in-depth interviews, this book offers a rare and intimate glimpse into how these individuals think, live, and wrestle with questions at the heart of human experience.
Over the course of two years, the featured thinkers were filmed, photographed and interviewed across the globe, often in their own homes and offices, where they spoke candidly about topics including the nature of philosophy, free will, mortality, identity, love, and death. The resulting chapters pair timeless black-and-white portraits with a distilled account of the interviews that captures key ideas, exchanges, and insights.
Each of the thirteen featured philosophers was chosen to reflect the diversity of ideas, experiences, and approaches that define contemporary philosophy. They come from different traditions, backgrounds, and parts of the world—but all share a deep commitment to clarity, curiosity, and the examined life.
- Peter Singer – Moral philosopher and bestselling author, often described as the world’s most influential living philosopher.
- A.C. Grayling – Leading public thinker and author of 30+ books on ethics, meaning, and the human condition.
- Kwame Anthony Appiah – NYU professor and cultural critic, exploring identity, cosmopolitanism, and moral reasoning.
- Alice Crary – One of the world’s most influential social philosophers, whose ideas have shaped feminist, animal rights and disability movements.
- Julian Baggini – Well-known author, journalist, and philosopher of everyday life and thought.
- Simon Blackburn – Cambridge professor emeritus and bestselling writer on human nature and morality.
- Clare Carlisle – Philosopher and biographer whose recent work rethinks faith, freedom, and Kierkegaard.
- Roger Crisp – Oxford moral theorist who has made timeless contributions to the field, and editor of foundational works in ethics.
- John Cottingham – Authority on Descartes, moral philosophy, and the relationship between reason and spirituality.
- Stephen Law – Philosopher of belief and scepticism, known for clarity and public engagement.
- Denise Ferreira da Silva – Renowned critical theorist reshaping philosophy through questions of race, time, and ethics.
- Daisy Dixon – Emerging voice in aesthetics, reinvigorating the field with insightful new ways of thinking.
- Alex Carter – Cambridge University Academic Director and the photographer's former professor, whose lessons helped spark the project.
The project was created by Minco van der Weide, a photographer and filmmaker whose work explores the human condition through careful portraiture and storytelling. With academic roots in philosophy, film, and digital humanities, his work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale.
For more information, see project webpage.
