About this Event
Celebrate the launch of , with author Ingrid Leman Stefanovic in conversation with Stephen Bede Scharper.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
About the Speakers
Ingrid Leman Stefanovic is an author, philosopher, and consultant in environmental and institutional change management. She is a professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Toronto, and former dean and professor emeritus of environment at Simon Fraser University. She is the author of numerous books including Safeguarding Our Common Future and Conversations on Ethical Leadership.
Stephen Bede Scharper is a professor, author, editor, and award-winning columnist with a special focus on social justice and the environment. He is Associate Professor at the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto and the Department of Anthropology at University of Toronto at Mississauga. His books include For Earth’s Sake: Toward a Compassionate Ecology and Redeeming the Time: A Political Theology of the Environment.
About the Book
In an era marked by polarization and social fracture, kindness and compassion are increasingly treated as liabilities rather than strengths. A Kinder World challenges this assumption, reminding us that human evolution and progress have been driven not by competition alone, but by collaboration, empathy, and care.
To build a healthy, resilient, and sustainable future, philosopher Ingrid Leman Stefanovic argues that society must renew a shared ethos of kindness, both individually and collectively. Dispelling the myth that kindness signals weakness, Stefanovic critiques the “selfish gene” narrative and reconsiders the roles of aggression and competition in human development. The book demonstrates instead how moral integrity, social justice, basic civility, and human progress are reinforced through the practice of kindness. These values find expression not only in interpersonal relationships, but also in social and cultural norms, environmental ethics, and the design of our towns and cities.
Positioning kindness as a guiding principle for the good life, A Kinder World also offers practical pathways for cultivating it in an increasingly unkind world. Drawing on educational tools and behavioural strategies, the book shows that kindness is not naïve or incidental, but a deliberate practice – and the enduring foundation of human flourishing.
Event venue & nearby stays
University of Toronto Bookstore (St. George), 214 College Street, Toronto, Canada
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