Bonin Bough
Board Director, Philip Morris International | Co-Founder, Group Black Holdings | Marketing Innovator Behind Oreo, PepsiCo & Mondelēz | Advertising Hall of Achievement
Byung-Chul Han
2025 Princess of Asturias Laureate | Philosopher of the Digital Age | Professor, Berlin University of the Arts | Author of The Burnout Society
One of the world's most widely read living philosophers and the 2025 Princess of Asturias Laureate, Byung-Chul Han has spent two decades diagnosing the psychological and cultural costs of digital capitalism. His landmark book The Burnout Society reframed exhaustion as a systemic condition. Audiences leave his talks with a transformed lens on attention, burnout, and what authentic organizational culture truly demands.
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Byung-Chul Han biography
Byung-Chul Han is one of the most widely read living philosophy speakers in the world, and his incisive diagnosis of digital society has made speaker Byung-Chul Han an indispensable voice for leaders navigating the psychological and cultural consequences of technology. Born in Seoul, he studied metallurgy before turning to philosophy, earning his doctorate at the University of Freiburg and his habilitation at the University of Basel. Since 2012 he has been Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Berlin University of the Arts.
He received the 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, one of the Spanish-speaking world’s highest honors, in recognition of his writing on the ills of digital technology and contemporary capitalism. His work spans more than twenty books translated into over thirty languages, all circling one question: how modern capitalism and digital technology have transformed human subjectivity, eroding attention, dismantling community, and replacing genuine experience with a relentless performance of self-optimization.
His landmark work The Burnout Society introduced the idea of the “achievement society,” a system in which individuals are no longer oppressed by external power but instead exhaust themselves chasing internally imposed demands. It became a global reference for business leaders, clinicians, and policymakers trying to understand the epidemic of burnout reshaping the workforce.
A Philosopher for the Age of Distraction
Han’s later books extend this diagnosis across culture, politics, and technology. In the Swarm examines how digital communication hollows out the public sphere; The Transparency Society argues that the demand for total visibility destroys trust, intimacy, and beauty; and Psychopolitics dissects how platforms exploit the interior life of users, turning emotional self-disclosure into data and profit. His more recent works, including The Crisis of Narration and The Spirit of Hope, turn toward storytelling, meaning, and the possibility of renewal. Throughout, he insists on recovering slowness and contemplation, what he calls the vita contemplativa, as acts of resistance.
As a speaker, Byung-Chul Han brings rare conceptual rigor to the questions that preoccupy senior leaders: the psychological costs of digital acceleration, the collapse of attention in organizational life, the politics of transparency and surveillance, and what it takes to build cultures of genuine depth. Audiences leave not with a checklist but with a transformed way of seeing.
Byung-Chul Han Speaking Videos
BYUNG-CHUL, PRINCESS OF ASTURIAS AWARD for Communication and Humanities 2025: FULL SPEECH
Philosopher, Culture Theorist Byung-Chul Han's Commencement Speech
Byung-Chul Han Keynote Topics
Contemporary organizations are not suffering from a deficit of ambition, they are suffering from an excess of it. Drawing on his foundational work on achievement society, Han examines why modern professionals exhaust themselves not through oppression from above but through demands they impose on themselves, and what leaders can do to build cultures that sustain rather than deplete. This keynote reframes burnout not as a personal failure but as the logical outcome of a particular model of work and value.
The most precious resource in any organization is not data, capital, or even talent, it is deep attention. In this keynote, Han explores how digital acceleration, the proliferation of notifications, and the logic of constant availability are structurally destroying the capacity for concentration, contemplation, and genuine creativity. He offers a philosophical case for why reclaiming slowness and depth is not a lifestyle choice but a strategic and ethical imperative for any organization serious about innovation and human flourishing.
The demand for radical transparency, in communication, leadership, and culture, has become a dominant organizational value. Han argues that this demand, far from building trust, actually corrodes it: genuine trust requires opacity, privacy, and the freedom not to perform. This keynote provokes senior leaders to reconsider how their transparency initiatives may be dismantling the very conditions for authentic relationships, loyalty, and creative risk-taking within their organizations.
Drawing on his book Psychopolitics, Han examines how the business model of digital platforms has moved beyond disciplining behavior to exploiting emotion, desire, and self-disclosure. This session is essential for executives in technology, media, and marketing who want to understand the deeper political economy of digital attention, and for leaders responsible for organizational culture in a world where the boundary between work and the inner life has collapsed entirely.
FAQs on Booking Byung-Chul Han
Why Byung-Chul Han?
Booking Byung-Chul Han positions your event at the intellectual frontier. As one of the most widely read living philosophers in the world, with works translated into over thirty languages and the 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities to his name, Han articulates why modern organizations feel perpetually exhausted, distracted, and hollow, and offers a rigorous philosophical framework for what must change. His talks on burnout, digital distraction, transparency culture, and the crisis of attention speak directly to executives, HR leaders, and strategists confronting the human cost of digital acceleration. For events where depth, provocation, and lasting intellectual impact matter, there is no equivalent voice. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to bring Byung-Chul Han to your stage.
What is Byung-Chul Han best known for?
Byung-Chul Han is best known for The Burnout Society (Müdigkeitsgesellschaft), published in German in 2010 and since translated into over thirty languages. The book introduced the concept of the achievement society: his argument that contemporary individuals are no longer subjugated by external authority, but instead exhaust themselves in pursuit of self-imposed performance demands. In 2025 he received the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities for a body of work that clinicians, organizational psychologists, and business leaders now draw on to understand the global epidemic of burnout, chronic stress, and mental fatigue in the modern workplace.
What is Byung-Chul Han's philosophical background?
Han was born in Seoul, South Korea, and initially studied metallurgy before discovering philosophy. He went on to study at the University of Freiburg, where he received his doctorate, and later earned his habilitation at the University of Basel. His work draws on the German philosophical tradition, particularly Hegel, Heidegger, and Walter Benjamin, as well as East Asian thought, giving his writing a distinctive quality that bridges Western and Confucian perspectives on time, contemplation, and the good life.
What topics does philosopher speaker Byung-Chul Han cover?
Speaker Byung-Chul Han addresses some of the most pressing issues facing modern organizations and society: the psychology and organizational roots of burnout; the attention crisis in the digital age; how transparency culture erodes trust and authentic relationships; the political consequences of digital communication; and the philosophical case for slowness, contemplation, and what he calls doing nothing as a counter to permanent performance culture. His talks are particularly valuable for audiences in leadership, HR, technology, and organizational culture, wherever the human cost of constant digital acceleration is felt most acutely. Aurum Speakers Bureau can tailor his engagement to your event's specific themes and audience.
How to book Byung-Chul Han as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Byung-Chul Han as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Byung-Chul Han's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Byung-Chul Han or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Byung-Chul Han speaking fee?
Byung-Chul Han speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Byung-Chul Han to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Byung-Chul Han.
How can I contact Byung-Chul Han?
We only work with Byung-Chul Han on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking Byung-Chul Han and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having Byung-Chul Han speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact Byung-Chul Han for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book Byung-Chul Han for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Byung-Chul Han is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Byung-Chul Han for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
