philosothon uk
London
The aim of the Philosothon is to promote philosophical enquiry and rigour by
bringing students from Years 9-13 together around stimulus material which allows
the group to move beyond discussion towards critical inquiry. The model used for
the event is the Community of Inquiry, where the idea is not at all to ‘score
points’, but to enable the group to move towards awareness of underlying
concepts that are inherent within the stimulus sent to schools and critical
understanding of different positions and arguments that arise as a result of
dialogue around the stimulus. Students are encouraged to ask questions of other
students in the group which analyse the issue at stake, which probe deeper and
which try to understand and clarify both their own viewpoints and arguments and
those expressed within the group. No formal philosophical expertise or grounding
is expected of students, and groups should be jargon-free zones; what the judges
will be looking for is students’ ability to move the argument on through genuine
awareness of different responses and the reasons behind them, and critical
inquiry into the reasons put forward by group participants.
