Biography Bas Haring

Bas Haring, born 23 April 1968 in De Bilt, is a popular philosopher who makes science and philosophy accessible to everyone. Bas is a professor at Leiden University, a writer and TV presenter. In 1988, Bas obtained his propaedeutic degree in physics and 1992 his doctoral degree in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence at Utrecht University. In 1997, Bas Haring obtained his doctorate doctorate at the same university in InformaKca.

Since October 2006, Bas has been an extraordinary professor on behalf of the Leiden University Fund appointed to the Leiden chair 'Public understanding of science'. As an author, he became known for the book 'Cheese and the theory of evolution'. This work on evolutionary theory and its implications appeared in 2001 and in 2002 he received the Golden Owl' for children's literature and the Eureka! prize for popular science literature.

In October 2003, he published his second book, De ijzeren wil, about the differences between humans, rabbits and computers. In it, he addresses the question of whether humans have something extra compared to animals and computers using several examples. Haring also often reverts to concepts from evolutionary biology, although he himself thinks he is "looking for mechanisms" not biological explanations. Besides books, Haring also writes columns for several journals, including Intermediair in the past Intermediair and currently the Volkskrant. For example, Bas presented the Tegenlicht episode 'And we work happily ever after'. In 2004 and 2006, he presented the TV programmes 'Stof and Haring' for the RVU where philosophical questions are central.