Jurriën Hamer

About Jurriën Hamer

Jurriën Hamer believes in philosophy that touches people and sets them in motion. Life continually presents humanity with new challenges, from discrimination and inequality to climate change, which can only be solved by looking in the mirror. What is our share in the world? And which ideas do we cling to tightly, while we could better let them go?

In his lectures, essays, and book ‘Why Villains Have Bad Luck and Heroes Have Good Luck’, Hamer sets the bar high, presenting philosophy that resonates with you, confronts you, and sometimes even makes your life more difficult, but ultimately enriches it.

Jurriën Hamer is a philosopher and lawyer, and earned his PhD at Utrecht University. In 2021, he published his first book, Why Villains Have Bad Luck and Heroes Have Good Luck, which was awarded the Socrates Prize, the annual award for the best Dutch-language philosophy book. In his debut, Hamer questions the idea of free will and explores a society without guilt and without merit. He has discussed this in the HUMAN TV program Over Leven, in the podcast the Rudi and Freddie Show, and with Dr. Kelder and co. Hamer regularly writes essays for the Volkskrant and NRC, and columns for Trouw. He is currently writing his second book, in which he searches for good and evil in the 21st century.

His presentations, lectures, and workshops focus on current topics, which Hamer analyzes with a philosophical, accessible, and humorous perspective. Hamer is only satisfied after a lecture when he has managed to touch people not only in their minds but also in their hearts. Because good philosophy is not dry brain gymnastics, but passionate thinking.