Floris van den Berg

Floris van den Berg
Floris van den Berg, 2014
Born	4 February 1973 Naarden
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation(s)	philosopher, author

Floris van den Berg (born 4 February 1973) is a Dutch philosopher, mostly known for his atheism campaign in the Netherlands.

Televised appearances

Following the initiative of Ariane Sherine and Richard Dawkins for the Atheist Bus Campaign in the United Kingdom, that was taken up in several other European countries, Floris van den Berg announced the intention to launch a similar campaign in the Netherlands on 12 January 2009. Kees van der Staaij of the ultraconservative Protestant Reformed Political Party (SGP) asked parliamentary questions about the matter to Secretary of State of Transport Tineke Huizinga, and discussed the topic with Van den Berg on 28 January in Nova. However, the bus campaign was abandoned, because the major bus companies Connexxion, Arriva and Veolia do not allow messages of a political or religious nature.

On 11 March 2009, Van den Berg was interviewed by the NOS when he took a new initiative to place a billboard along the A4 motorway near Schiphol, that for the first time in the Netherlands promoted an atheist message: "There is probably no god. Dare to think for yourself and enjoy this life!"

Following the publication of Van den Berg's book Hoe komen we van religie af? ("How will we dispose of religion?"), De Meiden van Halal invited him to a discussion in their television programme Bimbo's en Boerka's, tegenstellingen in multicultureel Nederland on 27 January 2010. Van den Berg's discussion on Bimbo's en Boerka's received a large amount of views on the Internet, especially on Uitzending Gemist, YouTube and Dumpert.

Floris van den Berg organised four "Atheism Days" in which Dutch and Flemish atheist thinkers and campaigners held lectures, interviews and discussions. Every edition was attended by about a hundred people. In 2016 was the last edition. In 2016, Van den Berg's book Beter weten. Filosofie van het ecohumanisme won the Book Award of deMens.nu.

In January 2017, Floris participated in the EO television series Rot op met je religie ("To Hell With Your Religion"), in which he lives together with two Christians, a Muslim, a Jew and a fellow atheist for two weeks. They go on a journey throughout the country to discover, discuss and critique religious ideas and rituals.

Works

• Geleefde brieven / Deel I: Prometheus (2009). ISBN 9789067282260.
• Hoe komen we van religie af? (2009). ISBN 9789089180247.
• Filosofie voor een betere wereld (2009). ISBN 9789089240538.
• Harming others : universal subjectivism and the expanding moral circle, Dissertation, Leiden University 2011 (dissertation advisor Prof. dr. P. B. Cliteur).
• Geleefde brieven / Deel III: Ikaros (2012). ISBN 9789067282697.
• Philosophy for a Better World, Prometheus Books, (2013). ISBN 9781616145033.
• De vrolijke veganist - Ethiek in een veranderende wereld (2013). ISBN 9789089242655.
• Utopische Meditaties. Gedichten & gedachten (2014). ISBN 9789402205497
• Beter Weten (2015). ISBN 9789089243768.
• De vrolijke feminist (2016). ISBN 9789089242181.

External links

• Floris van den Berg - Auteurs - Houtekiet
• Atheism Campaign