On the 26th of January 2024, Prof. Dr. H. D. (Rik) Peels gave his inaugural lecture as Professor in the faculty of Theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His lecture was titled "De extremist en de wetenschapper; Hoe we radicalisering beter kunnen begripen", and explored the concept of violent extremism and contemporary radicalisation, including the intertwining of radicalisation and conspiracy thinking that has been prevalent in recent years.
In this lecture, Peels tackles big questions in this area like: Are extremists crazy or are they in fact healthy, rational people? Should science and government listen to them, and if so, then how? In particular, Peels asks if Philosophy and Theology can teach us anything about extremism that we may have missed so far.
You can watch the lecture (in Dutch) below.