Dr. Samuel Kimbriel is a political philosopher, author, and founding director of The Aspen’s Institute's Philosophy & Society Initiative.  The Initiative seeks to reignite a national tradition of public philosophy, enabling us to grapple with our largest and most haunting issues of societal purpose—What is justice? What is a good life? What is society for?

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He is part of an emerging generation of philosophers rethinking basic questions of individuality, identity, and community. Author of Friendship as Sacred Knowing: Overcoming Isolation (Oxford University Press), he is also Contributing Editor at Wisdom of Crowds and writes widely on topics of solidarity, ideology, democracy, power, and trust for outlets including the Washington Post and BBC. He lives in Washington, D.C. and holds MPhil and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge. He helps to direct the HNI's working group, Sociality and the Self.