Barry C Smith is a professor of philosophy and Director of the Institute of Philosophy at University of London. 

He has held visiting professorships at the University of Califonia at Berkeley and the Ecole Normale Superiéure in Paris. Smith is a philosopher of language and mind who has published on self-knowledge, linguistic knoweldge, consciousness, the emotions, taste and smell.

He now works mainly on the multisensory perception of flavor and has published in Nature and Food Quality and Preference, as well as carrying out consultancy work for the food and drinks industry. In 2007, he edited Questions of Taste: The Philosophy of Wine, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language, and Knowing Our Own Minds. He has appeared frequently on BBC Radio’s In Our Time and Nightwaves, and also on Start the Week. And in 2010, he was the writer and presenter of a four-part series for the BBC World Service called The Mysteries of the Brain. He is also the wine columnist for Prospect Magazine.