Fons Elders studied philosophy, history and international relations in Amsterdam, Leiden and Paris.

 
From 1968 to 1974: Who Conceives What?

In this period of his life, Fons Elders was philosophically concerned with the ontological question and the epistemological question. He dealt with these questions in his writing, thinking and teaching. Several important works appeared during this period.
The first one, Filosofie als Science Fiction (Philosophy as Science Fiction), contained interviews with the most influential Dutch philosophers of the time. The International Philosophers Project (1971) led to the publication of Reflexive Water, the basic concerns of mankind, containing debates with leading philosophers, sir Alfred Ayer and Arne Naess, sir John Eccles and sir Karl Popper, Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault, Leszek Kolakowski and Henri Lefèbvre. His course in systematic philosophy, which was broadcasted on Dutch Educational Television, was followed by the publication of Analyze, Decondition. This work can be seen as a turning point in the developement of Elders' thinking. From this point onward his philosophy becomes more and more influenced by experiences and insights from outside the domain of academic philosophy.

 
From 1974 to 1989: Philosophy and Practice

During the second period, the thinking, teaching and writing continued. Yet this period is especially marked by a number of projects. In these, philosophy and art merge, as happens for instance in the experimental landscape project "Zeevang" (1974-1976), which Elders initiated and produced. The book Air, Water, Fire, Earth (1977) gives an impression of the way, Elders together with a a group of artists, dealt with fundamental issues such as the relationship between man, the cosmos and architectural forms and spaces. Or, to put it differently, the relationship between the invisible world of ideas and values and the visible world of landscapes and buildings, in which certain values and ideas find their expression.
On one of the travels Elders made in the company of his family - they were staying in Africa with the Dogon tribe - the House of The Four Winds project was born. Elders' ideas on the relationship between man and architecture had ripened and were ready to be put into practice. From 1979-1990 Elders worked as initiator, programmer and project coordinator on the realisation of this experimental housing project. After years of struggling, a beautiful building containing 90 appartments, 4 halls and studios, arose in the centre of Amsterdam. In cooperation with the Florentine architect Gian Piero Frassinelli, the philosopher carved his ideas into stone.

 
From 1989 to 2001: Humanism

The downfall of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of a new era. Many intellectuals were deeply struck by the ending of the Cold War. Elders founded the Forum 2001 Foundation and started to organize symposiums, in order to bring about a dialogue between thinkers from different origins.
About this time he was appointed professor in the Theory of World Views at the University for Humanist Studies in Utrecht. Elders managed to take a clear position in the heated debate on the role and the essence of humanism. He formulated his idea in the phrase:
A humanist is a human being like any other human being, but you can recognize him or her by their  willingness for dialogue.
He conducted studies into different world views and became more and more inspired by world views, other than the rational, patriarchal thinking system that shaped so much of the western reality from today. This developement can be traced in Humanism toward the third Millennium, a series of publications published by Forum 2001 Foundation in cooperation with the VUBUniversity Press Brussels.
Considering it to be rationally untenable to leave a great part of human experience out of philosophy, he worked on a redefinition of knowledge, in which several kinds of knowledge were integrated. In a way, he came back to the initial ontological and epistemological question of Who conceives what? but the answer he formulated was enriched by years of thought and experience.
 
 
From 2001 to 2005: Overcoming duality

The valedictory lecture The Sublime and the Beautiful - on ontology and creative imagination (VUBUniversityPress Brussels) held in the Dom-kerk in Utrecht showed how different aspects of human experience have become inseparable in Elders' philosophy. Beauty, rational thought, other forms of knowledge, practice and life style, are not considered domains that exist in mutual isolation. On the contrary, Elders seems to strive to an integration of  these domains into a whole. Without denying the great influence of dualism in how we deal with the world, Elders wants to show how 'both poles of any dualism become even more special if they enter into some sort of marriage'.
After having lived and functioned in an institutionalized setting for a number of years, a new sense of freedom has installed itself. A freedom of mind to look at society in a way that is both detached and ripened by a life worth of experience; a freedom of pressure so that it becomes possible to organize work in harmony with the natural pulsation of the day; a freedom of rules and limitations that allows Fons Elders to work in a more focused and concentrated way than ever before.
 

From 2006 to 2007: Integration in action

Western society has changed rapidly since 9/11. World views are colliding in a violent way. We are facing rapid economic changes. Ecological systems are breaking down. Feelings of insecurity are rising.
Since 2001, Fons Elders is working on the realization of an international centre in Sardinia and the South of France. After having dealt with Dialogue in an academic way for many years, it is time to create Dialogue by founding buildings and networks of influential people from different worlds.
In these centres, designed2meet, people can gain insight in the differences of insight. Visitors can develop the freedom of mind to deal with contradictory ideas in a constructive manner. “We have to join forces if we are to face the challenges of our time.”  Designs have been presented by the renowned architect Michele Saee (Los Angeles, Paris and Beijing). The municipality of Tempio Pausania is supporting the building plans. Investors and Chairholders (sponsors) are invited to participate. In 2009 the establishment of the Academie Libre Ambulante, together with friends and colleagues.

From 2008 - 2010: The TV-programme Islam in the mirror of Asma Barlas........

Asma Barlas writes in a letter dated April 19, 2010 to Fons Elders, : "You've done so much careful work with these interviews and we all owe you a huge intellectual debt as do the people who will eventually hear/ read the interviews.  I say "debt" because the kind of work you've devoted yourself to doing is so very essential for working through the high levels of ignorance, intolerance, or indifference that mark so much of the debate on Muslims in Europe. To complicate and humanize people's understanding of who Muslims are or what we think about our religion and other issues is really a gift at such a time."