Skip to main content

"Why Study Philosophy?" Day, June 28th Manchester - I'm speaking

'Why study Philosophy?' day

Title: Why Study Philosophy
Date: June 28th, 2013, 10.15am-4.00pm (followed by optional campus tour)
For: Year 12 students from schools and colleges
To Book: Please click enter your details in the booking form - please note if you are teacher bringing a group of students please complete the bottom section in addition to your details.
This event is completely free to any students wanting to find out more about this fascinating subject. Through a series of interactive talks and workshops, participants will gain hands-on experience of this fascinating area, and there will be plenty of opportunities during the day to put your questions to university teachers of philosophy, students, and even a best-selling philosophy author.
Speakers will include:
So why indeed study Philosophy?
What makes our actions right or wrong? Is it OK to torture one innocent person in order to save the lives of a thousand others? Does God exist? How can we know anything about the world around us? Is my mind just my brain? Should we trust doctors more than homeopaths? What is truth? Is democracy better than dictatorship? Is it rational to fear death? What is time? If you find these kinds of questions interesting, then come along to Why Study Philosophy? and find out more! The event is aimed at year 11 students, whether they are considering studying at Manchester or elsewhere, and whether or not they are studying or have any prior knowledge of philosophy. You can come to philosophy with any academic background: you just need curiosity and an open mind. Philosophy asks – and tries to answer – the kinds of deep and puzzling questions that other subjects don’t answer. So if you’re interested in truth, beauty, right and wrong, justice, the nature of science, how language works, the meaning and value of life, the existence of God, the difference between rational and irrational beliefs … then philosophy is for you.
Developing key skills
When studying for a degree in philosophy, students don’t simply learn about philosophical questions and how philosophers have attempted to answer them. Instead, the focus is on doing philosophy for oneself: thinking through the questions, analysing and criticising existing answers, and trying to think of new answers – and indeed new questions. Students learn how to argue carefully and persuasively, without ignoring other people’s views for no good reason and without relying on the kind of rhetoric we find in the media and in politics. Throughout the day, visiting students will see how philosophy creates graduates with highly developed language and communication skills and exceptional critical and analytical skills. Most importantly, it creates people who can think carefully and creatively for themselves.
Frequently asked questions:
  • Q: Can students book on as individuals and attend the day on their own? A: Yes, you can – all we ask is that you make sure your school/college is comfortable with missing any lectures you’re due to complete on that day
  • Q: Can teachers book large groups on in one go? A: Yes, you can, but you will be limited to booking on a maximum of 15 students.
  • Q: Will there be refreshments? A: Yes, there will. We will be providing some drinks in the morning, a light lunch, and coffee and cake in the afternoon.
  • Q: I still want to know more before booking on who do I talk to? A: Please email emma.britain@manchester.ac.uk for more information, or call 0161 275 8924.
  • Q: How do I book onto the day? A: Please complete the booking form via the link above.
This event has been organised in collaboration with the British Philosophical Association and with support from the Higher Education Academy

Source here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EVIDENCE, MIRACLES AND THE EXISTENCE OF JESUS

(Published in Faith and Philosophy 2011. Volume 28, Issue 2, April 2011. Stephen Law. Pages 129-151) EVIDENCE, MIRACLES AND THE EXISTENCE OF JESUS Stephen Law Abstract The vast majority of Biblical historians believe there is evidence sufficient to place Jesus’ existence beyond reasonable doubt. Many believe the New Testament documents alone suffice firmly to establish Jesus as an actual, historical figure. I question these views. In particular, I argue (i) that the three most popular criteria by which various non-miraculous New Testament claims made about Jesus are supposedly corroborated are not sufficient, either singly or jointly, to place his existence beyond reasonable doubt, and (ii) that a prima facie plausible principle concerning how evidence should be assessed – a principle I call the contamination principle – entails that, given the large proportion of uncorroborated miracle claims made about Jesus in the New Testament documents, we should, in the absence of indepen...
159 comments
Read more

Aquinas on homosexuality

Thought I would try a bit of a draft out on the blog, for feedback. All comments gratefully received. No doubt I've got at least some details wrong re the Catholic Church's position... AQUINAS AND SEXUAL ETHICS Aquinas’s thinking remains hugely influential within the Catholic Church. In particular, his ideas concerning sexual ethics still heavily shape Church teaching. It is on these ideas that we focus here. In particular, I will look at Aquinas’s justification for morally condemning homosexual acts. When homosexuality is judged to be morally wrong, the justification offered is often that homosexuality is, in some sense, “unnatural”. Aquinas develops a sophisticated version of this sort of argument. The roots of the argument lie in thinking of Aristotle, whom Aquinas believes to be scientifically authoritative. Indeed, one of Aquinas’s over-arching aims was to show how Aristotle’s philosophical system is broadly compatible with Christian thought. I begin with a sketch of Arist...
49 comments
Read more

The Evil God Challenge and the "classical" theist's response

On another blog, FideCogitActio, some theists of a "classical" stripe (that's to say, like Brian Davies, Edward Feser) are criticisng the Evil God Challenge (or I suppose, trying to show how it can be met, or sidestepped). The main post includes this: In book I, chapter 39 , Aquinas argues that “there cannot be evil in God” (in Deo non potest esse malum). Atheists like Law must face the fact that, if the words are to retain any sense, “God” simply cannot be “evil”. As my comments in the thread at Feser’s blog aimed to show, despite how much he mocks “the privation theory of evil,” Law himself cannot escape its logic: his entire argument requires that the world ought to appear less evil if it is to be taken as evidence of a good God. Even though he spurns the idea that evil is a privation of good, his account of an evil world is parasitic on a good ideal; this is no surprise, though, since all evil is parasitic on good ( SCG I, 11 ). Based on the conclusions of se...
446 comments
Read more