Stephen Law Keynote Speaker

One of the UK’s leading popularisers of philosophy and critical thinking.
An Oxford University academic experienced in speaking engagingly and authoritatively to range of audiences, including businesses and Government departments.
Created online critical thinking courses for the University of Oxford and Eton College

Stephen Law's Biography

Stephen Law is an internationally recognised expert on critical and creative thinking with a reputation for being a clear, highly engaging speaker and author.

He is an Oxford University academic who has created online critical thinking courses for the University of Oxford and Eton College.

Stephen is a highly experienced public speaker, including on TV and radio, both nationally and internationally. He has had book tours and appeared at literary festivals around the world. He written for national newspapers and other media and is widely interviewed.

Stephen is author of numerous popular books, including Believing Bullshit, which identifies 8 tell-tale signs that we have drifted into cult-think.

Combining insights from behavioural science, critical thinking, and research into how belief systems work, Stephen offers entertaining, evidence-based keynotes and workshops that include plenty of real-world examples and applications. In particular, he can offer a distinctive, entertaining approach to teaching intellectual self-defence. Law can equip individuals and teams with a simple and effective toolkit for revealing the dubious hidden assumptions, cult-think, and cognitive biases that can lead to reduced performance and disastrous business decisions.

He can show how a few simple philosophical techniques can significantly boost creativity and originality and foster motivated, flexible and creative teams in that are both highly addictive and successful.

Stephen is highly experienced in pitching talks at different levels and for a wide range of audiences, including businesses and Government Departments.

The Deputy Auditor General of Malta, Noel Camilleri, writes:

‘We engaged Dr Stephen Law to speak to us about critical thinking and how this could be used in our daily auditing tasks. The delivery of the 3 hour course was superb… He provided us with simple, down to earth, practical examples… A flawless delivery by an expert in the field.’

Thinking outside the box

Simple philosophical recipes shown to produce highly creative thinkers.

Mind-traps and Intellectual self-defence

How cult think, cognitive biases, and seductive fallacies can lead us disastrously away from the truth, and practical steps to

Socrates as CEO

How an Ancient Greek philosopher used small-team discussions

He helps leaders and organisations strengthen decision-making by equipping teams with the critical thinking skills needed to challenge assumptions, avoid cognitive bias and make better-informed choices.
He translates philosophy, behavioural science and psychology into practical tools that help audiences improve creativity, solve complex problems and build more resilient, high-performing teams.
He combines academic expertise with an engaging, accessible speaking style, offering a unique perspective on intellectual self-defence, critical thinking and the psychology of belief.
As an Oxford University academic and the author of bestselling books including Believing Bullshit, he has helped organisations, government departments and educational institutions develop stronger thinking and decision-making capabilities.
His thought-provoking keynotes equip audiences with practical techniques to think more clearly, question assumptions, foster innovation and make smarter decisions in an increasingly complex world.

Videos of Stephen Law

How Belief Systems Work

"Does God Exist?" William Lane Craig vs Stephen Law. Westminster

The "Evil God Challenge" by Stephen Law

Cognitive Bias debiasing

Articles, Media & Podcasts

How to think about weird things

Psyche

On Seeing Divinity in The World: Ultrasound Scans and The Canals of Mars

Templeton blog

Profound Nonsense: Exposing the Recipe for Fake Depth and Profundity

Templeton blog

Belief in supernatural beings is totally natural – and false

Aeon

A field to bullshit

New Scientist

Books by Stephen Law

Believing Bullshit

The Philosophy Gym

The Great Philosophers

Humanism

The War for Children's Minds

What Am I Doing with My Life?

The Complete Philosophy Files

Comments & Testimonials

I engaged Dr Stephen Law to speak to us about critical thinking and how this could be used in our daily auditing tasks. The delivery of the three-hour course was superb with Stephen touching on various topics of interest such as Fallacies, Cognitive biases and Evidence. He provided us with simple, down to earth, practical examples. It is the kind of course that, indeed sets you thinking .... A flawless delivery by an expert in the field.

Noel Camilleri Deputy Auditor General, Malta

Dr Stephen Law is an engaging, thought-provoking and fearless speaker. He makes philosophical question zing with life and relevance and helps people ask the big questions without pretension, and in a way that makes them relevant to everyday life. I highly recommend him as a speaker and lecturer, who will make audiences and students think afresh.

Baroness Claire Fox Director of Academy of Ideas 

I was for twenty-six years a lawyer with the international law firm of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, where I was for several years tasked with arranging speakers for business meetings. I had similar responsibilities when I was the president and CEO of a nonprofit organization, the Center for Inquiry. Based on that experience, I have no hesitation in ranking Stephen Law among the best public speakers. I had the pleasure of listening to Stephen speak on several occasions. He is an immensely gifted speaker, who never fails to engage productively with an audience. He especially excels in discussing the flaws and fallacies too often encountered in our reasoning. He is instructive without being pedagogic; clear without being condescending; witty without letting humor detract from the subject of his talk. All audiences rated him highly. I am confident he would be a perfect fit for most any organization.

Ronald Lindsay

Stephen Law is a front-rank philosopher of religion and metaphysician who has also established himself as a leading philosophical communicator. He is well-known for his frequent appearances on the radio and in other media as a spokesman for philosophy. He is the first person I would turn to if I were looking for someone to communicate philosophical ideas to a general audience.

Professor David Papineau King’s College London

Highly recommended. Stephen raised our awareness to topics that subtly and not-so-subtly affect us in the company every day. The content and the delivery were pitched just right and hit home with everybody that attended. It’s also a great way to bring together people from across the business to explore common themes.

Yonadav Yuval CIO, E.On Next