Professor of Philosophical Ethics Paul van Tongeren

Paul van Tongeren, professor of philosophical ethics at the University of Nijmegen, will provide a page for our pilgrim and hours book Seasons of Life. Van Tongeren won this year’s Socrates Cup for the most provocative and original philosophy book. He received this prize for his book Life is an Art.

From a article of the leaf Philosophy: “The jury praised the mildly polemical way in which Paul van Tongeren Life is an art exposes the shortcomings of the philosophy of the art of living, which is so popular in our country, which, according to Van Tongeren, has little regard for man as he really is: powerless, weak, vulnerable. In spite of the popular idea that man is the architect of his own existence, he shows that life can only be made to a very limited extent. The author has thought through the problem deeply and he makes the reader think. That in itself is quite an art.”

We are very pleased with the subtle thinker Van Tongeren as a symbolic precursor to the route. The Walk of Wisdom is not a route with one worldview or truth, we try to provide food for thought from many sources. What the pilgrim gets out of it, we like to leave to him or herself. What counts for us is the willingness to go within yourself, openness to the worldview of others and goodwill to contribute to the common good (More about our core values).