Thought Experiments in the City

Our Sixth Form  Philosophy pupils headed up to London for a Philosophy Enrichment Day packed with talks from leading academics, covering some of the main areas of the A level course.

We began with a session on euthanasia by Julie Arliss which focused on ideas such as the sanctity and quality of life, and how these shape ethical decision-making today. She touched upon significant legal and ethical case studies, applying ethical theories from Bentham and Mill, to Kant. Dr Ralph Weir then spoke about modern challenges to religious belief, including questions raised by developments in science. His conclusion that asking ‘is faith still rational?’ was in itself an unhelpful and misleading question; his preference was to question whether faith could be considered irrational when set in its proper context. His analysis of modern scientific ideas cast new light on the science and religion debate that will keep us thinking. Professor Liam Gearon followed with a lecture on religious experience, considering different forms of religious encounters and how they are evaluated within philosophy and theology. Finally, Professor Daphne Hampson explored the tension between feminism and Christianity, especially around autonomy and heteronomy. She was an inspirational speaker, offering us big ideas with no easy answers and questioning the narrative of representation of the feminine in Christianity particularly.

As a group we left with a clearer sense of how the theories we study fit into wider philosophical, political and ethical debate, making it a day that not only strengthened our understanding but also raised our ambitions for what we can achieve in the subject and how it underpins much of our modern lives.

Milli D, Lower Sixth